In loving tribute to my dear friend, Barbara “Hugs” Hammond, who crossed into eternity January 7, 2015
Everyone needs to have some “hugs” in their life. I am so grateful that Barbara was mine for so many years.
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The following is a re-post (edited slightly) from several years ago, but Barbara, being the blessing that she was, inspired me to write this one in the first place, so I thought it only fitting to share again.
click on this link → FRIED WORMS
A few weeks ago, I introduced you to the beautiful racing pigeon that I had the privilege of nursing back to health, and released. According to his leg band, Sampson was ten years old, so he was certainly old enough, and wise enough to find his way home.
Sampson didn’t return home, though. I’ve seen him around my home several times since the day he soared to freedom, no longer needing my care. Tonight, as I sat on my back porch, he flew overhead twice.
What perfect timing. I had just been pondering certain situations, asking myself, do I really make a difference? Down deep I believe that I do, but truthfully, there are times I feel that, even though I try my best to input into the lives of others, I am only repayed with scorn and spite.
But just when my eyes moistened with tears, there flew Sampson overhead, wings outstretched, beautiful and strong; and the voice of the Lord reassured me, “Yes, you do make a difference!” He reminded me:
So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it (Isa 55:11).
Dear reader, if you have ever asked yourself the same question, do I really make a difference, let me assure you that you do. Whereas you might not ever see the positive results in those whose lives you have invested in, you can certainly have confidence that your efforts are not in vain, for God will use them for His glory.
Thankfully, there are other times that we are privileged to witness the strength that others gained as a result of our obedience to God. Like Sampson, whose presence tonight was a comforting reminder to me, your benefactors will oft be near to remind you that you have helped them to gain ‘strength of flight.’
Either way, to God be the glory! And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we [and they] shall reap, if we faint not (Gal 6:9).
As my son and I walked through the parking lot, he stooped to pick up a coin. “Cool; it’s a dime,” he said. “If it had been a penny I wouldn’t have bothered, but a dime – now that’s a different story.”
I guess he doesn’t know that a 1943-D bronze cent was recently sold for $1.7 million, or realize that certain other pennies have been sold for as much as $200,000 in recent years. Then again, I have no room to talk. There have been lots of times that I was too tired, lazy or busy to bother picking up a stray penny.
Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t take the same attitude when he decides to pick someone up after they have fallen? If people were coins, Jesus would consider every dull old penny every bit as valuable as a shiny new gold piece. And, He would search for every lost coin. Consider the parable of the woman who lost a silver coin, then searched diligently to find it.
Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin. In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:8-10 NIV).
I believe there is also rejoicing in heaven every time someone stops to help pick someone up who is lost or fallen because that is a reflection of Jesus’ heart. I pray that I never cease to recognize the value in every human life, and that I always avail myself to be the LORD’s arms extended.
After all, everyone could use a little pick-me-up now and then!
There are only a few days left in this year, so I guess it’s time to make a few New Year’s resolutions. As I was thinking about all the items on my rather long list of improvements and achievements for the coming year, it occurred to me that my family and I have somehow let one of our most important “traditions” slip into oblivion.
Years ago, we kept a decorative tin on the dining room table at all times. Inside the tin were the names of just about everyone we knew – friends, family, and acquaintances new and old. Every evening, just before the dinner prayer, one of the children would draw a name out of the tin and we would include that person in our prayer. We always trusted the LORD to guide our selections so we would choose the name of someone who really needed a little extra prayer.
Looking back, I’m not sure when, or why, we stopped using the prayer tin, but I am determined that we are going to add it back into our daily routine. Dear reader, I may not know you all personally, but I am going to include a name card for those of you who subscribe to my blogs. I also plan to include a generic name card for those of you who read my blog, whose names I do not know. I already pray for you at times, but number one on my resolutions list is to intercede on behalf of others more than ever before and it is my great pleasure to include you.
From my family to yours, God’s richest blessings upon you.
We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers (I Thessalonians 1:2)
“In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
– Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)
For some time, I was quite reluctant to join an online social network. Although the invites came, I continued to decline them for various reasons including, but not limited to, the fear of privacy invasion. Then one day, much to my surprise, I felt a stirring in my heart; I felt I should sign-up and begin to connect with the friends and family that had gradually slipped out of my life. So I joined.
Truthfully, there are at least a dozen things I dislike about social networks, but I’m not here today to complain about those. Rather, I want to share with you what I most appreciate about them; which is the opportunity to share in the lives of others.
You see, I have discovered that most people join social networks in order to have a “voice.” In today’s world, cold and impersonal, many folks are simply looking for an opportunity to share the details of their lives, and to know someone cares enough to listen. I find too, that in the non face-to-face environment of the internet, many folks are less reluctant to share with others their triumphs and their tragedies –to freely share their feelings of sadness, fear and frustration, as well as their joy.
What better opportunity for us to fulfill the biblical precept to Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep (Romans 12:15).
Yes, I am thankful for the opportunity to pray for those in need, or to speak a word of encouragement to those who are down, even if I have never met them in person. I know there will certainly be times that I will fail my friends. But as often as I am able, I truly desire to let my friends know that I do care about the details of their lives. And I pray that in the end, it will not be my silence that they remember.
Polished Pearls 