LEAVES OF 3, LEAVE IT BE!!!!!

     Here are some pictures of me taken last week while I was suffering with Poison Ivy.  I am very allergic, so whenever I get it, it is really bad!  This time my face swelled up and I couldn't see out of right my eye.  Besides my face, I had it all over my stomach and back and arms and between my fingers. 

     I got the poison ivy while I was pulling weeds.  I won't be doing that anymore!  **Eli reminded me, LEAVES OF 3, LEAVE IT BE**

My Dad took me to the doctor and they gave me a shot in my hip.   The doctor also gave me a prescription for Prednisone to take for a week.  The first day I had to take 6 pills!!!!!  About 5 hours after the shot my face started to look better.  It's been a week now and I'm back to normal. 

My mom and I were just talking about how touching this plant causes this to happen to my skin and I was thinking about sin, and how we can be affected by sin in the same way.  When I got into the weeds and touched the leaves of the poisonous plant my body became afflicted with itchy, painful, rash.  In the same way if we get into sin, like drinking alcohol, or gossiping, or anger, or lying, those sins can be like poison spreading through our body.  Just as the poison ivy spread all over my body, sin can too.  The poison ivy affected the way I felt and sin affects the way we feel also.  Our walk with the Lord is affected by sin just like my skin was affected by the plant.  I need to avoid contact with poison ivy and more importantly I need to avoid sin.  It is not possible to avoid sin on my own but with God's help I will try.  It is a smart choice to avoid touching poison ivy.  It is also a smart choice to avoid things that lead to sin.  On days that we don't read the Bible or talk to God we are more likely to struggle with sin.  Touching only a small amount of poison ivy can be dangerous to me.  It's the same with sin.  Gossiping a "little", or telling a "little" lie can be dangerous.  It only takes a little plant to make me break out terribly and it only takes a little sin to hurt my relationship with God.  I am thankful that God loves me and He is so gracious and merciful and forgives me when I sin.   1John 1:5-10 says, THIS IS THE MESSAGE WE HAVE HEARD FROM HIM AND PROCLAIM TO YOU, THAT GOD IS LIGHT, AND IN HIM IS NO DARKNESS AT ALL.  IF WE SAY WE HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM WHILE WE WALK IN DARKNESS, WE LIE AND DO NOT PRACTICE THE TRUTH.  BUT IF WE WALK IN THE LIGHT, AS HE IS IN THE LIGHT, WE HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH ONE ANOTHER AND THE BLOOD OF JESUS HIS SON CLEANSES US FROM ALL SIN.  IF WE SAY WE HAVE NO SIN, WE DECEIVE OURSELVES, AND THE TRUTH IS NOT IN US.  IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS, HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST TO FORGIVE US OUR SINS AND TO CLEANSE US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.  IF WE SAY WE HAVE NOT SINNED, WE MAKE HIM A LIAR AND HIS WORD IS NOT IN US. 

The medicine cleansed me from the poisonous ivy and God cleanses us from sin.  The first step to getting the medicine was going to the doctor.  The first step with God is admitting to Him that I'm a sinner and need His forgiveness.  The second step with the poison ivy was to take the prescription I had been given.  Likewise we must take God's prescription.  God's prescription for sin is Jesus.  What can wash away my sin?  Nothing but the blood of Jesus.  If I had chosen not to take the predisone I would have been turning down the very thing that could make me better.  If we refuse to believe that we need a savior and that Jesus is that savior we are turning down the very Person who can save our souls from hell.   Once we have committed our lives to God it is still possible to turn Him down by not obeying him or ignoring him or choosing our own way.  We must take God's medicine!   We won't be completely rid of sin until we get to heaven but with Jesus we don't have to be "itchy" while we are here on earth.  Life is a lot better now that I have taken the Prednisone and life is WAY better if we take Jesus' offer of salvation.  God's prescription is free,  no co-pay or insurance needed.  Quit scratching and itching and take God's medicine today!

 If you want to talk to me about accepting God's offer you can email me at colin1230@comcast.net.

  

Your Chuckle for Today

Biblical humor
Q. What kind of man was Boaz before he married Ruth?

A. Ruthless......of course.

Q. What do they call pastors in Germany?
A.  German Shepherds.

Q. Who was the greatest financier in the Bible?
A. Noah He was floating his stock while everyone else was in liquidation.

Q. Who was the greatest Female financier in the Bible?
A. Pharaoh's daughter.  She went down to the bank of the Nile and drew out a little prophet.

Q.What kind of motor vehicles are in the Bible?
A. Jehovah drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden in a Fury.  David's Triumph was heard throughout the land.  Also, probably a Honda, because the apostles were all in Accord.

Q. Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible?
A. Samson.  He brought the house down.

Q. What excuse did Adam give to his children as why he no longer lived in Eden.
A. Your mother ate us out of house and home.

Q. Which servant of God was the most flagrant lawbreaker in the Bible.
A. Moses.  He broke all ten commandments at once. 

Q. Which area of Palestine was especially wealthy?
A. The area around the Jordan.  The banks were always overflowing.

Q. Who is the greatest babysitter mentioned in the Bible?
A. David He rocked Goliath to a very deep sleep.

Q. Which Bible character had no parents?
A. Joshua, son of Nun.

Q. Why didn't they play cards on the ark?
A. Because Noah was standing on the deck. (Groan)

P.S......Did you know it's a sin for a Woman to make Coffee?
Yup, The Bible says, He-brews

Keep smiling!!!  God Loves You Bunches and Bunches!
...Faith, Hope, and Love-- but the greatest of these is Love.
1 Corinthians 13:13

Summer,Friends,and Fun

 CATCHING UP.............

    June 19th Olivia was given the opportunity to be in a wedding!  She was the  flower girl.  Our friend Dawn loves Olivia so much.  Olivia loves her too and was excited that she was going to be in the wedding.  We drove up to Knoxville for the wedding and stayed a night because the rehearsal was Friday and the wedding was on Saturday.  Olivia did great!  She looked so pretty in her dress.  We are VERY happy for our friends Dawn and Scott.  Their wedding was so nice and I could tell that they wanted to honor God with their ceremony.

June 20th was Father's Day!!  We celebrated my Dad!!!  For starters I want to say that I love my Dad soooooo much.  He is a hard working man that loves Jesus, loves his family and loves trains!!  We cooked one of his favorite breakfasts and gave him exactly what he had been asking for, an ESV Bible!

  He picked it out so since my Mom likes surprises she also made him a huge goodie basket with all his favorite treats!  He really liked this!

Last week we  traveled up to Knoxville again to see some of our friends.  Dad had to go out of town for a week on a business trip so our friends asked us to come up and stay a couple of days while he was gone.  We had 2 huge sleepovers that were a blast!!!  The first night we stayed with the Anders' grandparents!!  There were 6 Anders kids and 5 Moran kids and 2 moms!!!  Mr and Mrs Anders were such great hosts.  We stayed up until 1:30a.m. watching movies in their theatre!  The next morning we had a huge breakfast before leaving for Dollywood.  We had a ton of fun together.  You will soon see a picture of us with grandmother.  She looks great,  and this is the morning after having 13 house guests!

 

The second night we stayed with the Ropers. 

We also had a great time with the Ropers.  They were wonderful hosts also. 

Mrs Tracey is an amazing cook!!  When we got there she had spaghetti and meatballs ready for us and it was DELICIOUS!!  We laughed and played and stayed up late and my mom and Mrs Tracey got to talk, A LOT!!  It was so much fun for us and Olivia even got her nails done. 

  

We loved our time at their house.  We had a great time playing together! 

I am so thankful for our friends in Knoxville. 

This next picture is for the Ropers.  No one else will get it.

 

 

Fun with the GORDONS.......

The Gordon family came to Chattanooga this past weekend and we had fun with them too.  We are so thankful that God has made it possible for us to spend so much time with our Knoxville friends.  Our family and the Gordon family visited Rock City and the Tennessee Aquarium.  Rock City was beautiful.  It was breathtaking.  My pictures hardly show how amazing it is.  You have to see for yourself!

 

Thanks be to God for our friends that are our FAMILY!