I have to be careful not to get stuck in the muddy places down on memory lane. You know, today is the day we have been given to make a difference!

Good morning, one and all, and welcome to Friday, August 17, 2018. You never know exactly all that is going on around you. Yesterday, I thought there must have been some type of evacuation or something. One I had not heard about. For crying out loud, where did all of those cars running here and there come from at 3:45 a.m.? Just for a moment, I thought I might be in one of those Twilight Zone time warps. Maybe they had heard the axiom, the early bird gets the worm. They may not have heard how it is the second mouse who gets the cheese. I'm getting ready to teach about the reflections of King David as he prepares to end his time here on earth. (2nd Samuel, Chapter 21) Thinking back, he rehearsed how that it was God who had brought him up, brought him through, and had provided for him throughout his sojourn. That was an appropriate study for me as I too reflected on my 72 years of breathing the air here on the planet. Here is what I posted on my Facebook page regarding my thoughts about my time here, "On the occasion of recognizing my 72nd year here on the planet I thought of this thematic phrase from the 124th Division of the Psalms, "If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, ....." I thank Him for His providential care and His faithfulness throughout the time He has granted to me. And, thanks to countless folks who have helped me along the way. It has been quite the journey. I am blessed. Amen."

Here's a flashback Friday special. I wrote about his little event back in August of 2007: "Yesterday afternoon I noticed a couple of high school boys came to our Church choir practice. It was pretty clear the high school girls in our choir had something to do with them showing up but it reminded me of when I essentially did the same thing. I had just come back from working the summer of 1962 with my uncle in Florida whenever some local boys asked me if I wanted to go out to a country Church where they were having a singing school. I asked why in the world I would want to do that. They said because there was a sizable group of good looking girls participating in the school. This new piece of information certainly sparked my interest so I tagged along. I went and there she was! I don’t know that much about love at first sight but I did learn how that a lightning bolt could strike you on the spot. I was there when it happened so I do know what I am talking about. That turned out to be one of the most significant days in my life since that singing school girl and I will soon celebrate our forty-third year of marriage." (If we make it to December, it will be fifty-four years and I still remember that evening like it was yesterday. I do. I really do.)

The great poet Carl Sanburg wrote this, "Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you." Time. We all have to deal with it, or, it will surely deal with us. There is something to the immediacy of embracing the time we have while we can. Another quote I found interesting comes from Kay Lyons, "Yesterday is a canceled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have, so spend it wisely." In the model prayer, Jesus taught us to focus on the day at hand, "Give us this day our daily bread." The earliest of the New Testament writings, the letter written by James, son of Mary and Joseph and half-brother to Jesus, had this as an inspired insight, "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.' Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.' But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil." (James 4, Verses 13-16, New American Standard Bible, NASB) What does this mean to me? Focus on the day and focus on the One who gives the breath in your body. Thanks, I needed that. Maybe someone else did too. Take care. Enjoy your Saturday and Lord's Day Sunday. And as always, Lord willing, I will see you next time here at the ole blogger ranch. May God bless. Amen. ....More later.