As unto the LORD

Thursday, September 25, 2008

LISTEN FOR THE 'TICK TICK TICK"

As most of you know my sister, Nonie and her husband spend the summers with me. They arrive in June and leave for their home in Florida after hunting season. AND as most of you know my sis and I have a great time. We do many things together. We provide meals for people, we do nursing home ministry, she drives her van to take the elderly to their prime time events. We also do crazy things, not on purpose, that make us laugh and laugh. ( I will not mention those things.) Well now to my reason for blogging!! She has a motto, "12 on, 12 off."

It simply means she sleeps 12 hours and is up for 12 hours. However she doesn't always get her "12 off" when she is here because I keep her very busy. This morning I stayed home and she called me into the bedroom where she sleeps. She said to me, "Aud...(that's what she calls me) I have been meaning to tell you something. I keep hearing a funny noise....." "Like what?" I asked her. "Well, it kind of quiet tick tick tick tick." She said she could hear it all the time but couldn't figure out whether it was inside of outside. Of course being the Mrs. Sherlock Holmes that I am I decided to find out where the "tick tick tick" was coming from.
AND would you believe it...I discovered that the lamp on her dresser had been shoved so that part of the base was on the doily and part was on the wood. Due to the style of the lamp, if there was any vibration in the room at all, it would vibrate and make the "tick tick tick" sound. We laughed and laughed and now she can go back to her "12 on and 12 off" without the "tick tick tick."

Naturally my mind immediately went to this wonderful truth. The Bible tells us that God's Word is a lamp unto to our feet and a light unto our path." Wouldn't be a great help if every time we got careless about reading God's Word and started to get off balance in our daily Christian living, if could hear an audible'tick tick tick." Even though we don't hear that type of reminder, the Holy Spirit does have a way of reminding us to get back in the Word. The next time you hear a "tick tick tick" in your spirit, get the Lamp and the Light, (God's Word) out and get back in balance by reading it every day.

Posted by Gram Clay at 9:07 AM 0 comments

Thursday, August 28, 2008

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

Two weeks ago my sis and I went with our prime time group to Hidden Lake Gardens. It was beautiful. We had a lovely picnic lunch and then toured just a portion of the 755 acres of beautiful flowers, shrubs, trees, and lakes. We also toured the conservatory complex. It was so awesome!

In 1926 a man by the name of Harry Fee, from Adrian, began creating a nursery and private garden. Later the gardens were donated to Michigan State University. Michigan State has done a phenomenal job in keeping this botanical garden alive with rare and beautiful flowers, plants, trees, and shrubs. Their mission is "to preserve the natural and created landscapes and to develop and exhibit plant collections for the education and enjoyment of the public." AND they are doing just that!

I believe God created us to be an exhibit of his marvelous handiwork so that we are an enjoyment to others. The Bible says we were fearfully and wonderfully made. Sometimes it's easy to let the weeds of hate, unforgiveness, jealously, and greed grow in our hearts. Then His beauty cannot grow and be developed in our lives. As we left the gardens that day, I was challenged again to do some weeding in the garden of my heart.

Hope y0u enjoy these pictures.

Posted by Gram Clay at 8:26 PM 0 comments

Saturday, August 02, 2008

TEA PARTIES ARE FUN!

Last week my sister and I decided to treat ourselves. We drove over to Tecumseh to the British Tea Pantry. It's a quaint old building that has been redecoracted in to a beautiful little Tea Shop. The serve wonderful delicacies. The food is delicious. They also have tea that is out of this world. We went with the Ginger Peach. They serve the tea in beautiful china teapots with china teacups. Sitting in the old fashioned booths with special old fashioned lighting makes for a lovely atmosphere. It is just like escaping from all the rush and hub bub of our busy life styles. This is probably not a place where you would take the men folk in your family. No overhead TV's tuned into ESPN. Everything about this place is delicate, dainty, frilly, and feminine. Another fun thing is that we usually meet some of our other friends who have come for a little "get-away" time. So between a delightful atmosphere, delicious food, delectable tea and delightful conversation with friends, we had a marvelous time. We ate and sipped our tea slowly and let the rest of the world pass by. We were only there a little over an hour but came away refreshed. It would be fun to visit the British Tea Pantry every day but I suppose it could get old and maybe even a bit boring. HOWEVER.....

Early in the morning when I rise, I slip downstairs to my favorite "prayer place" and take time to have a "tea party" with Jesus. It is the most delightful, delicious, delectable hour of my day. I always come away feeling so refreshed. AND it never gets old or boring. He has something new on His menu for me every day. HE IS MY CUP OF TEA!!!

Hey...if you have never been to the British Tea Pantry and would like to do so, let me know and we will make a date to go.

Posted by Gram Clay at 12:52 PM 3 comments

Thursday, July 24, 2008

JESUS IS COMING

Every morning at about 6:30, my friend Linda Brown and I walk 2 1/2 miles. We try to do this in the evening also. This morning we started out right before sunrise. I had my camera and took a picture of daylight just breaking. Then suddenly a few seconds later the sun burst through the clouds and the dark sky. It was a beautiful sight! Fortunately I had my camera out of my pocket and took another picture. What really amazed me was how quickly the sun appeared. It was almost in an instant. WOW! I was reminded of the Scripture that tells us of the Lord's return to earth. Luke 21:27-28 says, "Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen look up and lift up your heads , your redemption draws near." Taking these pictures this morning made me realize the importance of "being ready." The Scripture says Christ's return will be "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." For an instant right before I snapped the second picture I thought I could Jesus in clouds. I know I was looking for Him. One of these days it will happen! Hope you enjoy these pictures.

Posted by Gram Clay at 3:19 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS! I am not sure where that old saying originated but it's so true. My dear friend, Jim Welborn emailed me a picture that spoke more than a thousand words to me. As I viewed the picture he sent I had a flash back of the last 36 1/2 years of God's faithfulness. Someone took this picture of my son-in-law, John Palmer, and his grand son, Grant Andrew Baker.

There were four things that spoke volumes to me. Number one; Grant's little eyes are intently focused on John. Number two, Grant's little hands are reaching out to John. Number three, the picture that spoke so powerfully, John's large capable hand holding firmly on to Grant. Finally, number four; there was the 'look of love and joy' coming from John into his little grand son's eyes and look of 'trust in being held' coming from Grant's eyes.

I can identify with Grant in knowing that my Father's hands have kept me safe, secure, and confident during my years as a widow and a single parent. There were times when I felt unsure, uncertain, frustrated, lonely and shaky in my circumstances, but all I had to do was refocus off of my situation, reach out and look to Jesus and then I could feel His firm hand of love holding me steady.

I love the chorus of the old hymn that says, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace." THANK YOU JOHN, THANK YOU GRANT FOR THE PICTURE THAT HAS BEEN WORTH MORE THAN A THOUSAND WORDS TO ME!

Posted by Gram Clay at 7:00 AM 1 comments

Sunday, July 06, 2008

"THIS OL' HOUSE"

Two of my special friends, Kathy Hiatt, Ginny Penney, and myself spent the day together. After church we drove to Archbold, Ohio and had a lovely dinner at Das Essen House. On our way I happened to see 'this old house' at the side of the road. For some reason I couldn't get the picture of the dilapidated building out of my mind. I begin to wonder how many families had lived in the old house. Had any babies been born there? Had any of the family members died there? What had happened that it had gotten so neglected through the years? It would have been interesting if the ol' house could have talked to us. Since I have been a home owner for many years, I do know the time and energy it takes to keep a house from deteriorating. In my 50 years of living in this house I have had 3 new roofs, new siding twice, a new driveway, new windows, new furnace, new doors and on and on the list goes. My house does look pretty good because I have invested time and effort, (money too) in trying to keep it renewed and refreshed.

Thinking about the old house, brought this question to my mind....am I making a continual and conscious effort in keeping my spiritual house renewed and refreshed? I hope and pray that I will always be aware of repairs that need to take place in my the areas of my spiritual home. (my heart) Such as, when my attitude becomes shabby and needs another coat of paint (God's love), or when I neglect building the principles of God's word into the foundation of my life each day; My prayer is that the people that pass by me each day will see the joy of the Lord in my countenance and know that Jesus lives in my heart house.

Posted by Gram Clay at 9:20 PM 1 comments

Friday, June 27, 2008

THIS IS NOT A RECYCLED BLOG

This blog is dedicated to my son Doug and my granddaughter Bethany. As you know, if you have read Bethany's blog, Bethany and Doug have decided to leave the world of Blogging. Among other reasons given was the fact that Gram's blogs are even starting to be recycled. So...I am sharing an incident that happened today between the Lord and me and it is new, fresh, exciting, never-been-used experience. Hope you two enjoy reading this!

The regular route that I take to church has been changed. There is a bridge out and there are no plans to build until 2010. As a result I have to drive 2 miles extra. One route takes me through town and traffic and the other route takes me the back way, no traffic, country roads and I usually choose the latter. The back road route takes me directly past the little cemetery where our baby girl is buried. I am not a "cemetery person" so have not visited there often. However this morning on my way to prayer meeting, I began thinking about little Deanna and wondering what she would be doing had she lived. That stirred up memories of my husband and I began to feel, not depressed, but weepy and alone. Instantly I began to talk to my Heavenly Father and acknowledge His goodness throughout the years. I had just said to Him, "Lord, I know you are listening to me and you do love me and you do care about me. Would you let me see something on this drive that affirms this?" AT THAT VERY MOMENT, what I saw thrilled me. Some people had put a large white rock at the edge of the road with these words painted on it, GOD BLESS YOU." God spoke to my heart and said, "that message is from Me to you.!" WOW, what a thrill!

The theme verse for our prayer meeting was Hebrews 4:16 "Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace, (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy (for our failures) and find grace to help in good time for every need (appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it.)

Doug and Bethany...I am so thankful that I found His well-timed, grace and guess what???...it was not recycled it came brand new, just when I needed it, on a little country road just past the cemetary!

Posted by Gram Clay at 11:30 AM 0 comments