"Prayer lays hold of God’s plan and becomes the link between His will and its accomplishment on earth. Amazing things happen, and we are given the privilege of being the channels of the Holy Spirit’s prayer." ~ Elisabeth Elliot

I want to start today with an early Happy Birthday greeting to our granddaughter Stefani. She will be 22 this coming Sunday. This is our eldest Chris and his wife Sherrie's baby girl. She and her sisters Tiffany and Brittany practically grew up right down the street from us. They were in our home often. I actually helped take care of Stef when she was a wee little lass. I was doing a consulting project in Chicago and worked up there every other week. When I was at home she stayed with me. We had a ball. She doesn't remember it. Now they all cling to their MiMi. One day we heard the music from The Jeffersons playing. You know the one I'm talking about: Moving On Up! They moved over to Kingwood and while we see them often, it's not like it used to be. (It's only a joke. We are very proud of what they have accomplished.) And, we are so very thankful for our Stefani. She is a hard worker. She loves us getting together and we thank God for her and all that she means to our family. Hope to see you Sunday evening, that is, if Santa survives being in The Chair all day. Our love, MiMi and Poppy

We've all heard that old saying. When it rains it pours. Last Tuesday when that big weather front came through we saw that old saying played out in living color. For about two hours the water was coming off of our office roof like a faucet in a bathtub running wide open. I kid you not. When the rain and wind stopped we enjoyed about a 20 plus degree drop in the temperature. I know some folks got some high winds and flooding but we mostly just had rain and cooler temps. That was a very welcome outcome here. That's what I was thinking about as I am continuing to enjoy these cooler temps on this Friday, November 20, 2015. I've heard a lot about prayer the last few days when folks communicate with each other about the terror attacks in Paris. It reminds me of those old time radio programs that played during WW2. Our nation including all the broadcasters had no problems invoking the name of the Lord God of heaven in seeking His help during that great time of challenge and chaos. Nearly every wartime program gave recognition of our need as a nation for Divine intervention. Truth is we need that same intervention today. Every single day. All day long. Or, that's the way I see it. What say you?

There are some things that stay with you for most of your life. A fellow here was talking about growing up in the country. He's a few years younger than me so some of my recollections probably sounded ancient to him. We were talking about the cooler weather and how that we grew up with wood burning fireplaces. I was telling him about going to the woods to get wood with my grandfather. His eyes got big when I told him we didn't have any gas powered chain saws. We used the crosscut saw powered by human muscle. He looked as if that was incredible. I told him there was no need to worry because my granddad could get that thing sharpened up and it would do the job. In addition to that, he always had that tall pop bottle with pine straw stuck in the top. He carried it in his back pocket. It was filled with kerosene, (he called it coal oil), and he could snatch it out and sling some on the saw blade while we were in full motion. I explained to him the ground rules my grandfather gave to me. Since he had not eaten my breakfast he told me not to lean on my end of the saw because he didn't intend to pull for both of us. Secondly, he would do all the grunting and that would be enough for the both of us. The fellow hearing that part of my little story burst out laughing. He said that was a good one. No, my friend, that's not just a good one, that is exactly the truth and I should know because I was privileged to be the young teen aged boy on the other end of that saw. You have your memories. I have mine. I do treasure this one.

It's hard for me to tell you about all the different varmints I see on my way to work traveling down a country road in the wee hours of the morning. I can't tell you because I don't know what they are. I often only see their eyes reflected in my headlights. I'm pretty sure there's no Bengal tigers or Grizzly bears hanging around in the underbrush that lines the roadway but I can't be sure because I see tiny little eyes, medium sized, and some pretty large ones too. I do know I've seen plenty of critters in the dawn's early light. Let me name a few: skunks, rabbits, owls, foxes, coyotes, armadillos, deer, dogs, cats, opossum, bobcats, squirrels, big rats, and raccoons galore. I've probably left some out but that's enough to account for a whole lot of eyes. When I was a kid with a flashlight on a camping trip I would probably have gone with thinking it to be the Bengal tiger or the Grizzly. Seeing so many of those eyes does serve a useful purpose. They keep me pretty much alert and up on the wheel. I need all the help I can get. But you knew that already. I do hope you've enjoyed our time together this week. I know that I have. I also hope you have a wonderful Saturday and a worshipful Lord's Day Sunday. Until next time I leave you with the late Tennessee Ernie Ford's signature sign off, "Bless your pea-pickin hearts." May God bless each one. Amen. ....More later.