April 3, 2020

It’s time for Snoopy’s thought of the day.  Today he’s sarcastic.  I find myself liking sarcastic humor, especially from Snoopy or Charlie Brown.  It’s clear that Snoopy does not appreciate Lucy’s magnanimous generosity.  And who can blame him?  We all like to be appreciated – but Lucy doesn’t quite have it right.  Today Mom spent the day with us.  Kelly and the boys each had online book club meetings.  Kelly’s group studied David and Goliath; Logan was The Phantom Tollbooth, and Chase read  Owls in the Family.  Logan really liked his book, but Chase was unhappy with the ending.  I understand it was sort of sad.  Mom and I took a walk, sat on the porch in the sunshine, and I spent about 15 minutes pulling some weeds in the herb garden.  We put a roast in the oven early in the morning, which made the house smell heavenly all day!  Add some roast potatoes and noodles and it was wildly delicious!  At 8pm Kelly and I plan to watch the Hallmark Friday night Christmas movie.  At that point, the boys will take their ‘switches’ (video games) upstairs so THEY can have peace and quiet.  Huh?????   

Today’s message was by Rod Kasler of the First Christian Church of Martin’s Ferry, Ohio.  Like them on facebook or at fccmartinsferry.org. My daughter’s family are all members there.  Rod’s message focused on the final week of Christ’s ministry, leading up to Holy Week.  He opened with the quote, “when your religion gets into past tense, it becomes pretense.”  Are you going through life relying on how you USED to be?  What USED to fuel your life, your actions?  You need to be living your faith, as our God is a God of the living.  Living right now, every day, right by your side.  When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus answered ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.’ (paraphrased).  How could we even consider doing anything else, when He loves us so completely?  We may try to shut the door, keep God out of our life.  But God ALWAYS leaves the door open.  And the greatest hope of all – He is coming again!  We can rejoice in the fact that God is watching our every move, every thought is known to Him, every situation is at His fingertips.  When it comes our turn to run into Jesus’ arms, who will WE say that He is?  Rejoice. And make sure your ‘religion’ (Faith, etc) is new and fresh and alive in the present!  Make no ‘pretense’ about it!   

Today on this date in 1973, the first mobile phone call was made.  In 1953 the first issue of TV Guide was on the stands, and the cover story was of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball’s new son, Desi Jr.  In 1860, the first Pony Express ride began.  And in 1960, Elvis records three of his top hits, including It’s Now or Never, in Nashville.  Also on this date, in 2020, Walmart announced it’s plans to limit the number of people in their stores (per store’s square footage) and to restrict purchases to necessary items.   

  Times are tough, people are hurting, we all fear the unknown.  But we KNOW who holds our hand!  God bless you, my friends.  God bless.