Krogers Stock up

The Krogers Mega Days are when you can stock up on all sorts of food with great bargains. I ended up paying only $18.83 (with $1.50 back in store credit) for all of the below.

Life in the hand of the Almighty

I just finished reading a book called One Second After by William Forstchen. I cannot remember where I read the review of it that even prompted me to check it out of the library in the first place. So I must make a caveat: this book is definitely not written from a Christian perspective. There is some language, some questionable morals and some very gruesome details. So, now that I have scared you off, hah!, let me say that it is a fascinating book! It is a fictional account of a very real threat (forward and afterward attest to this). The gist is that a nuclear weapon is set off above the atmosphere and the EMP (electromagnetic pulse) resulting from that fries all electrical equipment, backup generators, etc... in the entire U.S. The story tells the year of ramifications that would follow from the perspective of one man who lives in the hills of N. Carolina. Just to set you thinking...what happens to diabetics who can no longer get meds? Did you even know that the process to get the meds is probably a 10+ step process all involving outsourcing to various parts of the world and U.S.? How about having no cars, planes, tranes, etc...because all are now equipped with electrical motherboards? What kind of attitudes arise when people are starving to death? Apart from God's work in our lives, the very worst will come out in these stressful conditions.
It has been a bit sobering reading this during the last week of weather with enforced rolling blackouts and even Walmarts being shut down. Flashes back to Hurricane Ike without power for 2+ weeks, but at least then, we had many other neighboring states/cities that could arrive with help quickly. I am quite aware that it is only by God's grace that we are sustained even now, day to day.

Isaiah 40:6-8

“ All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

The rest of Isaiah 40 focuses on God's great Sovereignty and Power so superior to ours that it is indescribable, but here is how He ends that discourse,

Isaiah 40:28-31

"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint."

We are empowered wih the Almighty God's strength! We must not live in fear for the future!

Matthew 6:34

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

How much more than the lilies of the field...

Matthew 6:28-30

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"

eleven days and nine people

We were blessed to get to spend time with Michael's family this past week and a half: Michael's sister, bro-in-law, nephew; mom and dad; Michael's other sister, bro-in-law and two nephews. As always, there was much food, fellowship and fun. Some of the things we did: watch kiddos play, play Wii (often golf), attend sister's friend's wedding, double our sunday school class size where we all sat in for M's lesson, eat and more eat. D was very sweet with his baby cousin (7 months old). In fact, he treated him like a baby doll and we had to watch to make sure he was not feeding him his milk, food, etc... Perhaps the future will be calm as well??? Thanks for coming, guys!