This is Debbie McReynolds, Lois Ryan’s daughter. I regret to inform you that Lois passed away on December 18. She really loved sharing her thoughts and love of God with all of you and I know you enjoyed reading them.
Thank you for supporting Mom as she shared with you all.
Love, her family
Some of you might be old enough to remember a TV show “there are 8000 stories in the naked city…” I don’t remember the name, but everyone does have a story. Think about your story. I’ve been telling mine for awhile now on this blog. Not the full story, but bits and pieces as they fit.
I try not to be political in this blog. I think our values are important. Jesus comes first no matter what the political view is. There is so much commotion in this world sometimes you don’t know what to believe.
But God gives us lots of stories in the Bible that we can believe. Jesus told stories to show us how to live with each other as “we do unto others as we would have them do unto us.” The Good Samaritan is one that shows us how to help the helpless. The Prodigal Son tells us how the Father runs to the young man when he comes back home to welcome him because he loves him. We can list many stories Jesus told that are relative today.
The Old Testament too has stories of how God used people to help each other. Moses obeyed God though he was afraid. Esther faced her King even though she might be killed for doing so. Ruth set off with her mother-in-law to a foreign land to follow the God she really did not know fully, but she felt was the right thing to do.
One of my favorites is Nehemiah rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. The odds were not in his favor, but God was. God gave him wisdom to put up guards to ward off those who wanted to tear down what was being built. He stuck to it when Satan’s men kept taunting him to meet with them. He in no way gave in. He trusted God to keep them going on the right path.
God still does miracle for His people. We had three in our family. I sprained my wrist and it was not broken. My daughter and her husband bought a house. They put the bid on it and the owner said that because my daughter liked it so much she gave it to them for the price they could afford. It was $10,000 less than the owner asked. The house they were renting gave them a date they had to vacate. It was two weeks till closing on the new house and they had to find somewhere to stay. A lady at church invited them to stay with her for the two weeks. All miracles.
I know that sometimes we don’t see the miracle. We believe we don’t even get one. But God is helping you write your story when you look to Him for guidance. We ask Him why is this happening to me? Nothing seems to be going right. He does know best. We have to trust Him when it is the hardest thing to do. He tells us that we are to walk by faith not by sight. Jesus told Thomas that it is good that he sees His scars on His hands and feet, but it is better for those who do not see and believe. Is your story faith or seeing is believing? Think about it.
I just reminded myself to put a pen in my purse. I usually have one, but lately I have been caught without a pen. What does this have to do with Christ and His Word? Well, in Corinthians St Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit writes God’s Word on our hearts.
That got me thinking. Do you write Prayer requests on a special list? Some people mark off when they get answers to their prayers. I do go back over mine at times to check them. Answers can be positive or what looks like negative to me. In any case God does answer. Sometimes we have to wait. He never leaves us hanging. In His eyes anyway. To us it can seem like He never heard our prayer. But we know that He does hear us, He does care about what we care about.
It can be lonely at times. In a hospital room waiting for a loved one to be healed. A commotion in the neighborhood. In a courtroom when things go wrong for someone we know. Immediate care or the Emergency Room in the hospital can have us on needles and pins. Anything that causes us an anxious moment is time to think of God as our first line of defence.
These could be the times that you get your pen out and a piece of paper to write your prayer requests down. It seems that getting them in writing makes it more real to touch God.
Put on the whole armor of God. The sword of the Spirit is the only piece of armor that puts us on the offense, It makes us brave. It makes us take our stand ready for anything that comes our way. Write down the Ephesians 6 list of the armor. Write down the Philippians list of the good things to think on. Make a list of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Encourage yourself with these Scriptures and your favorite ones to get you through the moment when things don’t seem that they are going well.
Get that pen out and write God a love letter. He wrote you one and now you can write Him one back. He loves hearing from us. Hebrews tells us that our sacrifice is praise. Jesus did all the rest in the sacrificing realm for us. We just have to praise Him for all His love and care for us.
Expectation: a state of expecting; prospect of good to come; prospect of reaching a certain age. What are you expecting? Each of us have expectations. Have you thought about yours? As a Christian grandmother I expect the best for my grandchildren. I am sure those who read this are in agreement.
However, Christians know they are in a war. Evil has always raised it’s head to fight God. The Garden of Eden was his first appearance to humans. He came speaking softly to Eve. He started out slow. He asked her, “What did God tell you? Oh, He just doesn’t want you to be like Him. There is nothing to worry about. Right,” he said, “you don’t even know what worry is.” Then her husband came along. She told him that they could eat from this tree. This beautiful serpent said that it was alright to do.
There it began. The war between good and evil. Hiding from God, shame, lies, blame, division, and all the things evil represents. But God stepped in and that led to expectations. There would one day come Someone Who will put the devil in his place. It took a few thousands years, lots of ups and downs for the Israelites, and the Gentile world, much evil raised through the years caused by not obeying God’s commandments.
What have we learned? As Americans we have one country and 50 states called the United States. Each state has its own rules, but they all stick together to defend America. History has brought us through some really bad stuff. Wars and rumors of wars Jesus predicted would happen. He can be truth to tell the truth. After all, He is Truth.
Back to expectations. What are yours? Do you expect your country to be united against evil? We want the best for our grandchildren. We expect respect for ourselves, for our government, our law enforcers, our military, our schools, and those in charge of running these organizations.
Being against each other will not help our expectations. Faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love. I believe it is still true, but many have forgotten it. How? Well, we want our own way. We are not thinking about others. Evil wants us to forget love. Real love. St. Paul told Timothy that the love of money is the root of all evil. Roots grow into plants, big and small.
We expect our government to protect us, we expect our pastors to preach the truth from God’s Word, we expect our police and firemen to come to the rescue, we expect out teachers to be respected and teach what our children need to know to grow in wisdom and knowledge just as Jesus did, we expect a lot from others. Let us do unto others as we want them to do unto us. Respect means listening, not forcing others to think as we do, not being forced into doing things we know is not right for us, living by the Constitution of the United States written for all men whom God created equal so we can be united in spirit, free to speak our minds, faith to worship, free to tell out government when we think it is wrong, free press to tell the truth, our expectation to be free. God’s will for God’s people. Expect John 3:16 and you will be free to expect Jesus to love you beyond all other expectations. “For God so loved the world (all the people) that He gave His Only Begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will have everlasting life.” Expectations at the finest.
I was doing my Bible Study Fellowship lesson for this coming Wednesday which begins the Beatitudes Sermon on the Mount. In 2013 my son-in-law asked me if I felt physically strong enough to go to Israel. I prayed and God led me to go with him, my daughter, and their church. The Bible study lesson brought back memories of that adventure for an 80 year old lady to take on.
The Sermon on the Mount reminded me of that trip because my daughter and son-in-law read the whole Sermon on the Mount from the Bible on the Mountain overlooking the Sea of Galilee where Jesus spoke those words. My mother’s buttons were popping when they read those Words spoken by the Lord so long ago, but are still living today. God’s Word is all powerful and never goes out of style. It is sometimes a hard concept for some of today’s people to believe, but the Word of God is a weapon against all the evil in this world.
I know that many of us have faced hard times. Problems never seem to end. Illness, finances, news, homeless people, jobs, heartache, grieving, and on it goes. But God is still the same. He is here. He is in charge. Even when things look like everything is falling apart, God never is asleep at the helm. He is watching. It might look like evil is gaining on us, but Satan’s time is running out. With each day he knows it is getting closer to his ending up in Hell forever. So he is out to get God’s people. The biggest job Satan has is to take Christians away from Jesus. He knows that he cannot do this without people following him.
Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount gives us all the blessings that are ours through His sacrifice on the Cross. In Ephesians St. Paul tells us to put on the whole Armor of God. James says to resist the devil and he will flee. We can’t go wrong with all this information when we believe and ask the Holy Spirit to write God’s Word on our hearts. Jesus stood against the devil when He went into the desert to be tempted by him with the Word of God as His only weapon. The powerful Word of God had Him stand firm against all the temptation Satan put before Him. That same Word never changes. It is all powerful today and It is ours to use against all the evil Satan can bring our way.
We should never be discouraged. Tell God how you feel. He wants us to come to Him. No matter is too small or too large for Him to handle. Remember God is All Powerful. Nothing can rise above Him. He gives us the tools to be the overcomers in His Name. Put on the Armor, read the Sermon on the Mount, be encouraged to use the power God gives us by the Blood of Jesus and the Word of God.
Do you get the “shoulda s” now and then? You know what I mean, I should have done this and I should have done that. My husband has been with the Lord for 19 years and I still get the “shoulda” running through my head every so often. He was in the hospital a month and did not come home to our home again, So I shoulda done this, I shoulda said that, I shoulda brought him home and so it goes, Those thoughts can make you crazy, because you can do nothing to change what happened five seconds ago let alone 19 years past.
When we pray The Lord’s Prayer we say, ” …Deliver us from evil…” and that takes care of the should haves. Because Satan is the one putting guilt and regret in our minds. He really enjoys seeing us struggle with regrets, When we do our mind is off God. In James we read that we are to resist the devil and he will flee. Sometimes that is easy and other times not so easy.
If we are having a down day, when the days are getting shorter and it gets dark earlier and earlier I tend to brood more. I can get myself really down when there is no sunshine. Looks like rain, but it doesn’t. These are all choices I have. I can go with the negative or I can talk to God and sing Christian songs, and ” accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and don’t mess with mister in between.,,” the Old Johnny Mercer song. That mister in-between is that old devil himself. He wants us to mess with him because he is messing with us. Anything at all that gets our mind off God pleases the devil.
Well God did not create us to have anything to do with the devil and his “shoulda done this and shoulda done that” leading. We were created to praise God, to be His people, to fellowship with one another, and to love. In the Garden of Eden Satan fooled Eve and Adam. He can fool us today too if we let him. We do not have to allow him into our homes, our families, and put all those “shouldas” on us.
God knows exactly where we are and will never leave us or forsake us. When the “shouldas” hit strike back. Have that talk with Jesus. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring all those Scriptures verses you learned in Sunday School back to mind. There was a choir of soldiers from the Viet Nam Prisons who put all their memory verses together that they scratched on filthy prison walls to communicate with each other and survive in the most awful conditions you can imagine. I they could do it so can we. Because “Jesus loves me. this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” And He is telling you too.
I know that this does not seem like a good title for grandmothers, but let me explain. This morning I looked at all the things I have available. I have magazines I want to read, a book I want to finish, a pool I want to enjoy, a list of DVDs to watch, call friends, send greeting cards, and then there are things that I have to do like pay bills, laundry waiting in the washer, the dog to feed and walk (when I am able to walk), crafts piled up to finish for gifts, the garage to clean, the house to manage, shop when I need to, etc.
I realized that I can’t do it all. I make a list every morning, and then do what I am able to accomplish for the day. Dust and vacuum are not possible to do daily like I did a few years ago. When I shop I have all I can do to get the groceries in the house from the car. I put the cold food stuffs away and then sit down. When the rest gets put away is another story.
I know that all this is negative because sometimes you just have to face the fact that you cannot do it all. Once you get in your eighties you just slow down. If you have health issues it slows you more. Just six years ago (it doesn’t seem that long) I could get my house in order in the morning. Cutting the grass took me three hours. I could go to the store and put everything away when I brought it in the house.
But God tells me to seek Him first and His righteousness, and all I need will be added unto me. He keeps His promises. I know that I can depend on Him to hear my prayers, guide my devotion time, lead me in my Bible Study lessons, point me in the right direction in everything He puts before me. There are things that are more important than other things to do. It is more important to text Bible verses to a list of family and friends every morning. It is nice to receive a greeting card or note in the mail so that is a special gift God has allowed me to have to encourage others.
What is your “can’t?” Do you have one or a list like mine? Prayer is a must. Children, grandchildren, friends, church, government, caregivers, first responders, police, fire fighters, neighbors, missionaries, our military, the list goes on and we can pray. Prayer is our first priority. When we are in touch with God we change our ‘can’ts’ to ‘can do.’ Jesus said that we should go into all the world and teach them and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Well, most people cannot go into all the world, but we can travel through prayer. When we call on God because He is right there to hear us. Christians can still turn the world upside down through prayer. There is no limit to the amount of talking with God. He loves you so much that He gave His only begotten Son to die for you and He raised Him from the dead so you will never have to fear life or death. Believe and pray. Blessings are ours. Praise the Lord.
The television show “60 Minutes” had a story featuring Tony Bennett. He has Alzheimer Disease so his wife, Susan said that he does not remember most things. He does know her and the children, which is a blessing. His son came up with the idea of two performances with Lady Gaga at Radio City Music Hall.
No one knew what would happen.
Then joy filled my heart when they showed him performing at Radio City Music Hall. It was on his 95th birthday. The house was full. Lady Gaga opened the show and then they sang together. The show will be shown in November on CBS.
An amazing thing that happens when his pianist plays a song. Tony hears the music and he sings the song. His mind zeroes in on the words of all the songs he has sung for many years. His doctor said that his brain parts work together and memory comes.
For the Radio City Music Hall performance he sang many solos and then Lady Gaga joined him. They sang the great old songs that I love.
Susan, his wife of more thirty years is now his full time care giver. The love between them is obvious. His wife shows pictures of his past relationships with show business people. He recognized a picture of Bob Hope and his wife, Delores. Most he does not know.
The show was presented to bring hope to people who are going through much the same problem with this disease. A loved one who forgets. In some aspects the person forgets to the point of becoming totally non communitive. Some are the opposite and keep moving constantly.
Why this blog in entitled hope is because, the Bennetts want people to know they are not alone. The caregivers are on duty 24/7. I know that Jesus knows what people are facing when any disease hits a family. Jesus is the hope of the whole world. He died for every person. I believe the Holy Spirit calls each person to faith. Many heed His call. Many do not. But God never lets a person go once he/she comes to faith. I know that for sure because my parents, both at different times and different parts of the country, came to faith just before they died. Or I should say, just before they started the next part of their lives. The Lord gives hope to all because He is Hope. The songs Tony Bennett sings bring joy. His life story gives hope that God does work in mysterious ways. Just trust Him, simply trust Him, when it is he hardest thing of all.
I just watched an old movie about the life of George M. Cohan, song writer in the 1920s and 1930s. I was so encouraged to hear these great American songs like “A Grand Old Flag” and “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and the great World War 1 song, “Over There.” It made me proud to be an American all over again. Irving Berlin wrote “God Bless America” and great songs for us to honor our military. Lee Greenwood’s “I’m Proud to be An American” is a more up to date writer. But all these songs and great Christian Hymns can make our hearts sing.
Grandmothers all over the world love to teach their grandchildren songs of their heritage. I have a glider swing in my yard and God blessed me to be able to have my grandchildren swing with me while I taught them songs. It is memories that warm my heart and make me smile. I am sure that most of you have memories that make you smile when you think of your grandchildren.
Being an American is a great gift from God. He has blessed us to be here and live free to make choices for ourselves. I bet everyone reading this could write a story about your children and grandchildren. Maybe grandchildren not born yet. We are across the board different ages. Some of you very young and some of you old like me.
Praying for our children and grandchildren is a privilege God gives us. From the tiny baby to the child who goes to school, college, job, military, marriage, our prayers are with them. Knowing that they carry our teaching with them in all areas is such happiness. My oldest grandchild was in college when the teacher said that no one knows an old song she named. My granddaughter raised her hand and said, “I know that one!”
I am proud of the fact that we have the songs that make our hearts sing like “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and “God Bless America.” When we sing “…and I know I’m free because of the men who died and gave that right to me…” We know that our grandchildren have the chance to make their lives count. They can worship where they want to, they can follow their dreams to reach their goals. We can thank the people who wrote our Constitution. They looked forward so that we could be a free country. Each individual has a choice. Walk that narrow path Jesus talks about and don’t turn to the right or the left. Stay with Him in His Word. You won’t go wrong when you are faithful to God, your family, and your country. He will guide you.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2001-2021. Grandmothers remember these years of all the things that they have faced. Many have seen their grandchildren go off to a war that no one wanted, but we suffered an attack that we could not ignore.
Many of us have seen the tragedy over again on the television today. Those of us who watched and listened to people of all walks of life speak of what they have lost those many years ago. Then there were many who spoke of their loss through the years. The military who died and those who have come back wounded. We were surrounded by loss from every area of the country.
The Bible gives us many verses to remember that God is sovereign in all of this. He said to remember the rainbow promise, the covenant promise, the promise of Passover, remember the sabbath day and keep it holy, memorize Scripture to recall when you are feeling sad over all the things that are going on in our world.
The New Testament brings us more of the promises God has made. Prophesies from the Old Testament come true here. Jesus the greatest gift of all is born right in the pages of the Gospels. His life, an example for us to follow, to live with each other and care about our fellow man.
We have a Constitution in this country that men strained over. They wrote the Declaration of Independence that is firm in believing all men are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights, by their Creator, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – the government is to secure these rights. On September 11, 2001 there was no division in this country. Our government stood strong. We filled the churches and synagogues. We held hands and hugged each other. Men and women from all areas in this country came together to help clean up what was left after enemies destroyed lives and buildings. We prayed.
Today we are called to prayer more than ever. God wants to hear from all of us. We need to stand together and pray in the Name of Jesus, according to God’s will. Pray for each other, pray for our country, pray for the Gold Star families, our wounded warriors, and pray that we can come together, that our government will stand firm once again to keep this promise to “resist the devil and he will flee.” Our God, our Family, our Country is the order of this Patriot Day September 11, 2021.
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Grandmothers for God 