Matthew 28: 19) Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20) teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” ~ English Standard Version

Good morning and welcome to today's edition. It is a brand new month and today finds us at Monday, February 2, 2025. I read where the groundhog has spoken and there will be six more weeks of winter. David in the Bible said he was glad when they said let us go to the House of the Lord, (Psalm 122). I say this about that: Me too!!! We did get to show up for our Life Group yesterday and it gave me the opportunity to thank our folks for their concern and prayers during the health scare, if that is what it was, I experienced recently. While in our study we received a text saying our great grand Gabriella was being baptized at her local assembly about 30 minutes away. So, we jumped up, left the class in progress and drove over to witness this life milestone event. We walked into the meeting room and there she was, in the water already. She was bearing witness on the outside of what had already taken place on the inside, her having put her faith and trust in Jesus. Believer's baptism is how we define it. Having been saved she then, in obedience to the Lord's command, gave testimony in demonstrating the death, burial, and resurrection as depicted in baptism, and, in doing so, she gave evidence of her new life in Christ. She is eight years old and we pray for her and for all of our children, grandchildren, and great grands, that each one will come to the knowledge of the truth, respond to the Gospel, and be saved. Why? Because there is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun, therefore, we want all of our family to go to heaven. That's our heart's desire. We were blessed to be at her baptism. The pastor there brought a tremendous sermon on what it means to fulfill the life God has given to us by reaching out to others and seeing them come to know Christ. We then had lunch with our son Chris, her Paw Paw, and the family. It was a great day and I am looking forward to more of the same as we seek to influence our offspring with the most important truth in this life, and, that being how God loved them and sent His Son to save them. Amen.

 

I read that some people actually eat groundhogs as wild game along with woodchucks. You know, how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood? That's my recollection of that little ditty and it may not be correct. At any rate, others recommend not eating groundhogs because they might carry disease or parasites. We grew up eating wild game in rural Louisiana. It was mostly squirrels and deer and maybe a wild hog or two. We didn't think much about it. Granny Mac would prepare it and we would sit down to the table and it eat what was put before us. She could cook. We would go out and kill a few squirrels, clean them, and, she would go to work. She knew how to take the gaminess out of the meat she cooked. She would smother fry the squirrels and make a gravy and serve them with mashed potatoes and homemade bread. Talk about good! Fast forward to the past forty plus years and I can tell you I haven't killed any wild game and the only game I've eaten has been a little sausage given to me, made up of pork and deer meat, and, that would have been very little. When we moved to the Houston area, our diet changed too. My point? Punxsutawney Phil, the prediction groundhog, might want to be aware that if he makes a bad guess, well, he might just end up in the frying pan. And, the neighborhood we live in is overrun with squirrels. They seem to be everywhere. People actually wreck their vehicles avoiding them on the roadways. They do. They really do. Sadly, me too! Y'all take care and have a wonderful day. With God's blessings. Amen.