"History is a set of lies agreed upon." ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

When I am able to sit down, collect myself, and put together a few thoughts, there are times when I just have to pause and express thanks to God. When we think about how our lives are in His hands, well, and we consider who He is, it does call for a response of recognition and praise. It is Monday, June 8, 2020, and I do bring you greetings from my world to your world. Part of the challenge for us all is to get past the knee jerk of "How are you?" Fine, thanks for asking." habit we develop early on. I sometimes excuse that response by saying I know of others with much greater issues, challenges, and problems than I have. And, we ride that one for as long as we can. Truth is, for me, I am a very private person. We come from folks who for the most part have never shared our innermost feelings, our skeletons, or, even the troubles we are currently dealing with. I was in a session one time and the leader of the group asked a probing question and a lady responded and when she did she let it all out. Most of us were sitting there with our jaws dropped. She had very legitimate challenges in her life and she was willing to put them out there. I wanted to be excused. The purpose of our time together was to help each other in dealing with troubles, but, it was as if we all were expecting something a whole lot safer than the stuff she put on the table. I think for me I've spent way too much time making sure I never have to divulge anything except for those generic trial balloons we all have, like aches and pains, scheduling issues, or too much stress. The Bible tells us, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed......." That's from the King James Version. The overwhelming majority of the other translations uses the word sins in the place of faults. That makes it sting even more. Right? What say you?

Don't worry, I'm not planning on gushing forth with a whole lot of revelations any time soon. I will tell you something I notice about getting older. (I have a really good story about an unusual experience I had recently but the wife has this idea, "There's not one thing funny about it.", therefore, I will hold onto it until the use-by date expires.) I will, Lord providing, hit the 74 mark in August of this year. I notice that when I first hit the floor in the wee hours of the morning I am a wee bit wobbly on my feet. I've never been a wobbly person. I for years had to deal with a bad ankle that might throw me on the ground with no notice but outside of that one particular liability I've never been unsteady on my feet. Blood flow, blood pressure, and age obviously cooperate together to create this issue. (I know. The experts say I should consult my primary care physician, and, that I will do when I see him in July for my annual physical. That is, if I remember it by then.) The wobbliness does not last very long but it is an unusual happening.and I expect there's more from where it came from. I will tell you this about that. It was not always that way. Yesterday, Mr. Bentley and I were sitting outside in the heat. He dragged me out there. For what good reason? He just wanted to chill. In the 110 feels like. While we were out there I saw these kids riding their skateboards, bicycles, or just loping from and to the subdivision pool. One fellow was on that skateboard for a long time. I thought about standing up and hollering, "Hey, I used to do stuff like that too!"

I was reminded again yesterday why, if a person can, they should attend services with other believers. I know some are unable and I see the live stream to be a wonderful technology blessing for any and all who are shut-in. However, when we meet together something different happens. Yesterday, they live-streamed both the 8:30 a.m. and the 10:30 a.m. services. We watched some of the 8:30 before we left the house. We sang along to the music and we heard the preacher. However, when we showed up for the 10:30 something was different. The fellowship, the music, the preaching, the sense of God's being in the house was electrifying. God made us. He knows what is best for us. We are made in His image. There's just something about when God's people come together He is there with them in a special way. "....not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25) I've been blessed watching the services online. Very blessed. But, what a day it was when we were all together in the meeting place and God came down to meet with us! Amen. .....More later.