Harmony and Peace

Hope that this treatise on prayer has strummed the chords of harmony and peace within your soul. And further hope that when you are troubled in life, that you look back on this scripture,

³¹ What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? (KJV)

and all of your worries will cease.

This scripture helps me a lot. You see, because I have such an intimate relationship with God, I know that whatever betides me, He will work it out for my good, so I "paint it green, (Chopping My Row, p. 21) pray, and keep on stepping.

There have been friends, colleagues, and enemies down through the years that have asked me or wondered how I made it through whatever it was that I was going through at a given time in life and to all, I say once again, "By grace through faith and prayer."

Talked A Lot About Prayer

Talked so much about prayer because it is such an integral part of my life! I have seen it move mountains, shut down some enemies and make some others my footstool. You, my friend, need to try it if you have not already, and you, too will become a proponent of prayer.

BYDWP

Is all I really need to say

Because there is no better way

To begin or end your day

Because BYDWP is the banner that

Has carried and sustained me

So, the last thought that I want

To leave with you about prayer is

BYDWP.

A Prayer for You

A Prayer for You

Please intercede in the lives of my

Readers who have requested prayer

Please heal their bodies, minds

Heartaches, and grief that they bear.

Bless each of them with the blessings

In which they stand in need

And let the fire of your love ignite

In them and their families

And in everyone that they meet.

          In Jesus' name, Amen.

********

BYDWP

BYDWP

This is the essence of

My faith, you see

Because no matter what disturbs my day

I always fall back on

The privilege I have to pray.

********

On this the next to the last day of February

I wanted to underscore the privilege

And the need we have in/for prayer

Yet, so often, we forget the love and the

Tenderness that waits with patience for us there.

Well, I will tell you as I have told so many before

I do not stress much about problems and situations

I just bow my knees to my Father and am troubled no more

Because while in attendance before His throne

He reassures me that I am His and that I am never alone.

********

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

 

Don't Believe in Coincidence

 

No Mystery

Oh, no it is not a mystery

That you ended up reading

A blog that was written by me.

It is no coincidence that

You ended up following my blog, you see

Because of something of mine that you once read

"It was meant to be,"

Is all that can be said.

You see, I believe that you

And the other blog readers of mine

Were brought together for

This particular time

To send up universal prayers

For the peace of the world

And for the children of mankind.

So, don't forget blog reader of mine

That the day and hour is always right

For collective prayer time

To our risen Savior Divine!

********

This Moment in Time

What I do for you at any given moment in time

Is really no biggie at all

Because wrapped up in what I do

Is the love that Jesus has for me, and for you.

I just ask that you pass the love along

And in doing so, help someone to be strong

Or be the hand that lifts another from a fall.

*********

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

There are no coincidences in life, folks. So, make the most if the opportunities that come your way.

Food for Thought - When asked about your treatment of him or her, this is what you want the said angel to say, "She treated me well and was courteous and kind. She is a blessing to all humanity. That is the way that I wish more people would be."

A Prayerful Sunday

Always ask for the building up of your faith daily as you begin your day with prayer. (BYDWP) If you happen to be going through something that is distasteful or unpleasant, don't despair. Instead, remember that nothing last forever, not even trouble. This trouble, too, shall pass.

A Prayerful Sunday

Today is the Lord's Day

And I know what I am going to do

I am going to attend worship and pray

And praise and thank Him for all

That He has brought me through.

And while I am there, I am going

To pray for our leaders and for our country, too

And pray hard for world peace

And for all of the war talk rhetoric to cease.

Going to pray that hate be harnessed

And that the seeds of love be released

And carried far and wide

To take root in the soil of human souls

So that malice, envy, strife, and hatred

No longer exist to give birth to cruelty

Mass killings and such like

Gonna pray that this world's leaders

Be given a ride on the rails of peace

And that they are no longer governed by nationalistic pride

But governed, instead, by love for all humanity

For which the Savior died.

And one last thing, I'm sharing this prayer with you

In hopes that you will join hands with me

As we collectively knock on heaven's doors

And push our urgent but humble prayer through.

"Father, heal our nation and heal our land

Because You are faithful, Father, and we know that You can."

********

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

 

In Thee, Oh Lord, I Put My Trust

The title of the blog today are words that I heard my mother speak to God many times during my eighteen years under her roof. I heard her speak them so many times that when she did, I would go off in a corner by myself and pray to God for her. She spoke those words at times when she was bothered about the rent being due or when the lights got cut off. Sometimes the lights got cut back on, and sometimes they did not. But, through it all, I learned to be a praying child, and I am a praying adult today. I learned early on that God will hear prayer. I learned that though the answer to the problem that I brought to Him was not always immediate, I learned that as long as I had told Him about it, the worry about the problem would cease to exist anymore.

My momma also said those words before every meal that she ate.  My mother taught me by example to persevere. She taught me that things would work out in God's time, not mine. She told me to hold on to His hand no matter what, and that is what I did as a child, and that is what I do as an adult. He has been faithful to me, y'all. Having said that, I will leave you with two small poems for the day.

In Thee, Oh Lord, I Put My Trust

A poem of praise to the GODHEAD

From a little speck of dust

In YOU, I put all of my trust

To prosper and protect me

Wherever I am lead.

********

Renewal

Prayer renews my strength

Day by day

As I struggle to walk in

This Christian way.

When you have been in

Prayerful contact with God

There is a serenity that holds you

No matter where your footsteps may trod.

         -excerpt from DEI Sub Numine Viget

********

I hope that the fervor that I have used in discussing prayer this month has made you want to get on an intimate basis with God.

After today there will be four more lessons of recap on prayer, and then this series of lessons will be over. In March we start on another subject.

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

 

Trust Him to Work His Plans for You

Trust Him to Work His Plan for You

And just as the LORD was with Joseph throughout the various setbacks in his life, so HE will be with us, too. (Read Genesis 39:2-6; Genesis 39:21-23; and Genesis 39:39-46) And just like He blessed Joseph, He will bless us, too.

So, ladies, don’t be surprised when you get your blessings when you stay faithful to GOD for HE will, “Work things out for your good” (Romans 8:28). Start making some preparations for those blessings, if by doing nothing else, but preparing yourself mentally. I must confess, I have been blown away by some of the blessings that I received after some of my supercell storms have ended. It gives further credence to that old song that says, "You can't beat God's giving, no matter how you try." I know that this song was written in reference to giving of time, money etc., to the Lord and His subsequent blessings. But I am speaking of the giving that He has done for mankind (His Son) and of His knowing us so well, that He can satisfy us to the very fiber of our being! How Swee-e-et it is to be loved by God! I just love being loved by Him and I love trying to love Him back!

 

He has blessed me y’all. He has blessed this lady who used to be a little nobody of a girl from Memphis, Tennessee. We will talk more about how He has blessed me in Lesson 3.

 

He’s Got a Plan!

So, if it feels like you have been singled out by the world for persecution more about persecution in Lesson 9) or ridicule, don’t worry about it. You have been picked out by the Lord according to His plan for you. And remember, as we go through the lessons in this book, the Lord gave you your row to chop and though the cockleburs, Johnson grass and morning glory tire you out, your Father sees you in your work (Heb. 6:10), for “His eyes are over the righteous and His ears open to their cry.” (1 Peter 3:12) When they single you out to fight with you, they are biting off more than they can chew. They can’t handle a mouthful of God because He does not bite off in plugs. He makes the plugs, Himself, according to His will! It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God! I would not want to stir him up; would you?

 

 

 

He Made a Plan

HE looked upon her and chose

 Her from the bustling pile

He knew she would morph

Though it would take her a while.

 

 

Forward I Go

Jeremiah 29:11 has let me know

That You have already made plans

For me and armed with that

Knowledge, it is forward that I go.

I see in nature when I look around

That you never leave situations to chance

For Your meticulous preparation

Can be seen throughout all creation

You plan things down to minute details

And because of that fact, I get assurance

And armed with the knowledge of Your love

It is on down the row that I go.

 

When I think about the fact that Your

Omnipotent hands fashioned me in my work

In the way that You wanted me to chop my row

I get renewed vigor and tenacity

No matter what is thrown at me by my foe

And it is with relish that I tell the world

My God loves you and me and this is a

Fact that I know

For knowing that I am a part of His eternal plan

I chop the weeds that are on my row

Whether they are tall or low

It is with determined tenacity

That I, with my eyes on my Father work my row

As toward the eternal city, I go.

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

If you have enjoyed the past three days of my blog, then you have been enjoying my latest book, "Chopping My Row." It is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and ebook. Thank you for your readership of my books and my blog. You are helping me in my efforts to be an encourager to mankind. God bless!

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

 

How to Handle Unwelcome Changes

Think About this, Will You?

"Even the very hairs of your head are numbered." (Luke 12:7, Matthew 10:30, KJV) I told you yesterday that God has a plan for your life. So, when unforeseen things come upon us, we need to remember that we are so important that even the hairs on our little heads are counted. Yes, the Creator has numbered the hairs on your head!  That means that, just like this scripture says, we are important to and loved by God. That means that whatever goes on in our lives, He is aware of it and will work it out for our good." (Romans 8:28, KJV)

Let me put it another way. Can a true mother ever get too busy to answer her child's cries for help if the child is being threatened by a mongrel dog or what-have-you? Exactly! Then neither can the Lord God. All He asks is that we have faith in Him and that we show that faith and love by seeking chat time with Him (praying). He likes to hear from us. (Hebrews 4:16, KJV) What? Why, of course, He knows your name! He counted the hairs on your head, didn't he? Uh hmm-m...

Now that I have you thinking a bit more about the love that He has for you go ahead and read the second part of Lesson 1 from "Chopping My Row." I think that it will bless your soul and make you want to try prayer if you are not a prayer and to pray more if you are not already an avid prayer.

How to Handle Unwelcome Change(s)

Now that we have talked about the fact that change is inevitable, let’s talk about some of the unpleasant things that happen in our lives. We have already stated that nothing lasts always. Well, that applies to trouble, too. It is just for a while. Though we do not know how long a while is, God does.

 

You remember the story of Job in the Bible, don’t you? (Read Job 1:8-22.) You can see from the reading that “Job was an upright man who feared GOD and eschewed evil.” Job was trying to live for the Lord so much that the Lord bragged about him to Satan. Uh oh! And you know what Satan said, “No wonder! You have blessed everything that he has and all the works of his hands; what do you expect?” Now, those were not the exact words, I paraphrased it. I put it into today’s language, but you get my drift.

 

Wonder why the story of Job was recorded in the Bible? The LORD had that recorded in the Bible, His book, because HE knew that one day there would be some of His children who would need reassuring when they had to go through similar things in their lives. Thank You, Father, for looking through our lives before our time and placing things there that You knew we would need to make it through this land of our temporary dwelling.

Just like the Bible has records of how God’s children’s enemies caused them trouble, it has many episodes recorded to show us that the LORD GOD took care of HIS people. And what we have to remember is that just as HE took care of them back then, because HE is faithful (Read 1 Corinthians 1:9), HE will take care of us now. We have to remember the other times in our lives when we have wrung our hands and cried to HIM and HE brought us through. We must remember that HE took care of us in our mother’s womb and has brought us on down to this present moment. In these plans that HE has made for us, there is help for the rough times that HE knew were coming. We must remember that in this storm, in this moment, HE is ever present and is working things out for our good (Romans 8:28).

 

Let’s take a look at the story of Joseph in the Bible (Read Genesis 37:1-36 Chapters 39-41). You see from this Biblical account that Joseph had some unexpected, unpleasant changes to happen in his life. He was thrown into a pit, sold to the Egyptians, and thrown into prison. We realize that these unwelcome changes were not things that Joseph planned nor enjoyed, but he managed to keep his faith in God. We can see the hand of the LORD working from whatever situations, traps, and pitfalls Joseph was put in. When he was thrown into the pit, the LORD got him out of the pit, because if you will remember, it was the original intent of his brothers to kill him and to tell their Dad that a wild animal had slain him. That’s what they thought they were going to do, but not so. The LORD already had a plan. He had the plan before Joseph was even born. Woo! Ladies, when you think about it, you know that whatever moment we happen to be in, in our lives, whatever moment defines our “this moment or this day”, GOD is already there working things out according to HIS plan! If you will have that attitude in your life, you will have people marveling at your faith in God.

 

To get back to Joseph, the LORD had him to find favor down in Egypt (care package). He ended up in the house of an Egyptian noble who liked him very well. You can see the providential hand of the LORD working again. Uh oh! Not only did the noble like Joseph well enough, but apparently so did the noble’s wife. Isn’t that the way it seems that life happens to us sometimes; you can’t catch a break for “nothing?” She meant to have Joseph one way or another and when he would not sin against God by lying with her but instead ran out of his coat to get away from her, she lied on him. And that lie caused poor Joseph to end up in prison. It seems that the adversary never leaves you alone if you are trying to live for the LORD. Another unpleasant change for Joseph, but he kept his faith intact. How do we know? We know because references in the scripture are made to let us know. (Read Gen 39:9)

• Should I do this thing and sin against GOD?

We know that Joseph kept his faith in GOD throughout his entire ordeal because in Genesis 50:20 he told his brothers these beautiful words that bring music to my ears and joy to my soul every time I hear them, “You meant evil against me but GOD meant it for good to bring it about as it is this day.” All in all, Joseph remained faithful until his death as we can see from reading Genesis 50:24-25.

We will finish this Lesson 1 up on tomorrow, but as you can see, I am an avid believer in prayer!  And if you stick with me, you will be, too, if you are not already.

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

Three Last Things:

1. He sees the bigger picture because He wrote the plan.


2. He knows what is best for you. Never forget that.


3. BYDWP

Plans for Me

We have seven more days in this month, and then this series of lessons on prayer will be over. Having thought about how to end this series of lessons, I decided to give you a little bit of my foundational belief in God. So, for the next three days, I am giving you Lesson 1 from my latest book, "Chopping My Row." I am not giving it to you because it is mine, but because I know the joy, inspiration, and encouragement that people tell me they get from it. This book is the essence of my mission of being an encourager, which, as you know, is why I write a blog. (Isaiah 50:4, KJV) Enjoy the excerpt!

LESSON 1: Plan for My Life (Proverbs 19:21; Jer. 10:23)

Aim: To become mindful of the fact that our faithful Lord has a plan for our lives and to use that knowledge to deal with whatever comes our way.

To realize that, though I may make plans for my life, ultimately it is not up to me; it is up to God.

Song – “Ultimately”

 

Because I know that He has a plan for my life, I can be happy. I can get immense pleasure out of simple joys and simple gestures of love and care. I know; I know...I plead guilty to being a rose-tinted glasses wearer. (Tee hee)

 

Plans for Me

When I think about the fact

That You have plans for me

It makes me want to run on

And be the best that I can be.

 

It makes me want to step high

And then step higher still

It makes me want to encourage others

To get to know You and to always do Your will.

When I think about the fact

That YOU have plans for me

I get a buoyancy in my step

That is easy for all to see.

And YOU know what; I don’t care that they make

An example out of or make fun of me

Because I am striving to please You, Jesus

Whether through precipitous winds or calamity.

For I know to trust in You, no

Matter what comes my way

Because I know that about what

Happens to me, You have the final say!

Psalm 5:11-12

Proverbs 19:21

                                         (excerpt from W.O.W. created w.o.w.)

 

 

 

 

 

A Plan

GOD (my beginning)

Love (crafted in)

A Plan

Care Packages (to sustain)

Love (gathered back with)

GOD (my ending)!

(excerpt from W.O.W. created w.o.w.)

 

 

 

The aim of this lesson means that I don’t get unduly bothered by things that change because I know that, though I make plans, it all depends on the will of the Lord. That has not always been the case with me. I had to learn to expect change because that is the way that the Lord set things up. God does things per a plan and according to Jeremiah 29:11, He has always had a plan for us. He put that plan for our lives in place a long time ago.

 

So, what exactly is a plan? A plan is a detailed method for achieving an end. It is a detailed formulation of a program of action. So, to me, this means that GOD decided what would happen first in our lives, what would happen next and so on and so forth. You know this is so because you were born; you grew up to become an adult; you grow old (become an elderly person) and then you die. (Hebrews 9:27)

 

That is the plan for our lives; that’s the general plan. Change is built into the plan because if it were not, you would stay a baby. Now, we don’t know the specifics that the LORD has put in place for our lives, but knowing that HE has a plan ought to give us, as HIS children, reassurance. We will talk about children in just a minute but what I have said so far will start to help to keep your faith in HIM strong.

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

If you believe that He is the architect of the plan for your life, then perhaps you will go a step further and engage Him in prayer. You will be blessed when you do try Him.

Gold!

If I told you about a gold mine where gold was yours to pick up for the keeping, there would be a line so long that it would be nearly impossible to get in, right? Sure, it would because you would tell all of your relatives, your best friend, etc. You would want to make sure that they did not miss out on such a golden opportunity.

Well, I have told you about an easy-to-read map to a gold mine. Say what?! Yep, you heard me correctly. That roadmap is the Bible which points us to God's love. That joyful treasure that I am speaking of is the law of God and His love for us that is found within. (Psalm 119:72, 127, KJV) I have been teaching you how to realize the love of God through prayer. (Heb. 4:16, KJV) God's love is our treasure. It is more precious than gold.

I mean, think about it. The Creator and Owner of all of the cattle on all of the hills and all of the mountains and the sea and everything that is has given you His law, His love, and His Son.

...a gift more precious than gold.

Think about it.

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

Disillusionment - Contentment

Prayer

Will move you from "here" (disillusionment)

And help you to get there (contentment)

Prayer

********

Reminding you again that prayer didn't go out of business in Biblical times and God did not put a "Gone to Lunch" sign on the door during modern times. He is still in the prayer answering business. (Read Hebrews 4:16.)

In conclusion, I hope you remember to utilize prayer and make it a part of your everyday life so that when you do have trouble, you won't have to worry about looking for the Lord. He will know where you are because you have established a fine relationship with Him. He will come to see about you if you just call. How do I know? As I have been telling you this whole month, I have tried Him many times, and His love still carries me.

Pray

Get your prayer in this morning or today

Always know that it is important

To make the time to pray

When you get too busy for prayer

You, my friend, have too many things

Crammed into your day.

 

So no matter what you do, don't you

Get too tired, too downhearted

Nor too worn to pray, okay

Because God is still God

At the end of the day.

********

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

 

Up and Running

(Had computer issues, but all is okay for now.) Just like a virus or what-have-you can attack your computer system, the machinations of mean-spirited people can do much the same with your Christian life. Without the avenue of prayer, where we keep in touch with our God and are reassured of His love, we might do like my computer did for a moment and just shut down. BUT, when we are well-grounded through prayer, we can react just the opposite way of what the world thinks that we should. Here is a poem to illustrate how an unexpected reaction to mean-spirited people brought about a positive result.

Uh Hum-m, I See

I see your trouble that you are going through

And I heard about the traps that people set for you

Yet, I see your nonchalance and am puzzled about it

And by the smile that continues to grace your face

I'm  baffled by your continued air of unflappability

No matter how much is hurled at you, you refuse to give place

To the retaliatory attack that I would have launched

I would have delivered blow for blow and punch for punch.

Well, I will go ahead and read this scripture (Psalm 46) 

That you have marked out for me, but it ain't

Gonna change what I would do, if I were you, to the people

Who are sabotaging your job and bothering you

For if I were in your shoes, I'd give them their just due.

I would let them know that I am not a person to be trifled with

And that I give as good as or better than I get

I would make them think twice about tangling

With me again because I am a force to be reckoned

With and everybody know that if you mess with me

Or mine, that I am coming after you is a safe bet.

Honey, I would set a trap so big that they...huh

Say what, well I will read that scripture but child

Okay, okay I am going to read it right now

But don't think you are going to make me a namby-pamby

Like you because I have been trained to get people off of me.

Uh, okay so I read the scripture, and all I can say is that

 If I had a Power like that on my side, I'd not enter another fray

Because I would know that He would handle the

Business and come out winning on any given day.

Okay, you have another passage that you want me to read

But I don't see why because this Psalm 46 has everything

Covered that a bothered child would need.

Oh, I see what you wanted me to grasp

This God of yours fights for you and has made plans all along

To take care of you in all of your trouble and right every wrong

And I see how He tells them all to leave His children be

And laughs (Psalm 37:13) at what they will reap when He brings His calamity.

Okay, so tell me how I can get Him to be on my side

Come on tell me, buddy, in your good friend confide

For I am listening hard because I don't want to take

A chance of living another day without the difference

In my life, this God of yours can make.

********

Points to Ponder:

1. Although the situation in the poem above is fictitious, you never know how your non-retaliation may affect someone's life in a positive sense. And yes, it pays to remember that it is all being written down.


2. We are epistles read of men. (2 Corinthians 3:2, KJV)


3. And, as always, BYDWP.


4. And lastly, remember that it pays to be "up and running." It benefits you as well as your fellowman.

Whose Child Are You?

Major Issue with Computer

Oh bother! Major problem with my computer.

Mean Spirited People and Prayer

When dealing with mean-spirited people, it is necessary always to have a prayerful spirit. You see, if you have a prayerful spirit, then you will always be close to the Lord. You might even wake up some morning praying.  And that is okay.

Yesterday, I posted something on my Twitter page concerning not sowing any more seeds of hate. There were three replies that called it "dung." They did not use that word; they used a more coarse word choice.  And that is their prerogative. But, you know folks, the world has been trying to silence me for a long time, and I am just not giving in. I have a philosophy like Joseph of the Bible had and I have set it out in the poem below:

 

Oh no! Meant for my bad

But brought about good

And she stepped on

For the Power behind her steps

She understood.

(Genesis 50:20,

Romans 8:28, KJV)

********

I do my encouraging because of what the Lord has placed on the inside of me, and I make no apologies for it. If my blog touched a small nerve of regret concerning your lifestyle choice, then good. All hope is not lost for you. Reach back and find those simpler days when you were not so caught up in hatred. Reach for the love that the Lord has for you and embrace it. Will this blog or any blog cause all mean-spirited people to change their ways? No, it will not, and we know this because the Lord has said to let the tares grow along with the wheat and at the harvest time, He will do the separating. That is good enough for me. I just have to make sure that I stay on the course that He has put me on, and continue to uplift people's spirits.

I can do that by being prayerful in my own spirit. And having said that I invite you to go with me to our Father's throne this morning. Y'all, bow with me please:

Father, we come acknowledging You for Your lovingkindness, Your justice, and Your righteousness and we thank You for them. We love You and have tried to tell the world that we do, but some of us have faint hearts, teary eyes, heavy burdens or troubled spirits, and wounded and  weary souls  right now. Father and Lord of all Creation, please alleviate all of the pain, faint hearts, cares, and fears of us, your children.

We ask a special healing blessing upon the parents and relatives of the victims of the school shooting down in Florida. We ask that you grant the entire state of Florida and the nation that sweet peace that surpasseth all understanding like You have done for so many of Your children before. Please make us all see the presence of your love through the simple beauty of nature that you have surrounded us with. Make us know, Father that as long as grass grows green, that you are still in control and that you will make everything alright and that you will give the bereaved families the tenacity and perseverence to go on in the assurance of Your faithfulness and Your love.

We thank You for Your 'Spirit that intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered." We are in such need right now. In the name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

 

Went by the meeting house today

Went there in turmoil

Had things that I needed to say

Came away from the meeting house today

A stronger person having gone to pray.

          -adapted from "Chopping My Row"

Spirit Praying Close

Sometimes in this old life, we can be beset with so much turmoil and chaos that we get disturbed in our spirits. The killing of the students in Florida yesterday disturbed my spirit, and I am sure that it did most of yours, too.  Let's face it, y'all. We have a problem here in America. What can we do about it?  Before I talk about what we can do about it, let me tell you a beautiful story.

Greg and Jan are beaming happiness, the kind of happiness that only parents of a newborn can beam. Both of them are successful in their chosen careers, she as a teacher and he as a lawyer.  Now, they hold in their arms that elusive treasure that they thought would never be theirs, a baby of their own. A baby to pass on the family recipes, secrets, heirlooms, etc. to. They hold a bundle of joy and it is all theirs!

Now, I did not tell you the gender of the baby because it should not matter. I did not tell you the race of the baby because, again, it should not matter. What I did do was paint a picture of true happiness that a young couple is experiencing, who had begun to despair of ever having such joy. They have a baby!

Now, let's fastforward  seventeen years. Jan is well-established as a successful college professor and Greg has made partner in the biggest lawfirm east of the Mississippi River. Greg has had his new partnership and the corner office that goes with it for all of a month! He has gotten that pep back in his step and that swagger back in his walk. Ah-h-h, life is good.

Greg's cellphone goes off. "Hello. What! When? How Bad? NO-O-O!" Greg thought to himself, "It can't be! No-o-o-o-o!! I have to get to Jan. I have to tell her myself..."

Now, what I have written for you is an untrue scenario, but one that could very well be true.

Nobody has the right to take innocent lives no matter what the provocation, slight, etc. Jesus could have had every one of his captors annihilated, but He didn't. He showed love. The Florida situation was not an act of love. It just wasn't.

Remember when we prayed for our country when the wildfires were ravaging through several states and hurricanes were headed for our coasts? Folks, we need to pry like that now. This rash of school shootings has to end! WE ALL NEED TO PRAY FOR THE SENSELESS SLAUGHTERING OF OUR YOUNG FOLKS TO END. Let's all plant seeds of love and STOP FANNING THE WINDS OF HATE!

What did I say? I said,

"Stop that!"

Rein in the hate and that goes from the top to the bottom. If you are a celebrity of any kind, go on the news media and talk calmly, lovingly but sternly to such would-be perpetrators. Use your fame and influence to rein it in. It is time to stop sowing seeds of hatred because we surely do not like the crop that is being harvested!

Preachers are doing their mightiest to stem this tide of hatred, but it takes more than them. It takes us all. I am shouting mine from my blog and if I had national prominence or access to national television, don't think for a moment that I wouldn't address it. Yes, sir and yes ma'am, I would. It is time for all of us to do everything that we can to stop this. Today, it is their grieving, but tomorrow, it may well be ours.

Praying and Talking Where I Can,

Alma L. Jones

"Grammy Alma"

 

Prayerful Eyes

If you look around you with prayerful eyes, you will see, evidence of prayers being answered concerning the great and concerning the small. Do you remember when there were wildfires burning in several states, and when there were several hurricanes heralding toward the United States at a fierce pace? That was a time of collective praying, wasn't it? Sure, it was. That was a time when everybody who wore the name Christian remembered 2 Chronicles 7:14, KJV and acted upon it. Nobody had to tell us to begin our day with prayer or to remind us to pray. We woke up thinking about the situation and uttered a prayer right then, often before rising, didn't we?

But When I

When I wanted to despair like a lot of others, my faith told me that if I just did like David said in Psalm 27:14, "Wait on the Lord," that everything would be alright.  So, I prayed, and I waited.

Then, Too

Then, too, I knew that God would handle everything because when I looked back down through the years of my life and remembered that I had had my share of doubts, fears, troubles, and valleys to go through and hills to climb. I remembered that through it all, God brought me and let me know that when I got too tired, He was with me and that the reward in the afterwhile would be worth it all.

He still does that for me today. What I am saying to you is that, when you have to shed some tears, keep your hand in His hand and everything will be alright. And whatever you do for the rest of your stay on this earth, don't ever quit praying because, as you can see, it works. Remember, "Faith retained - Blessings rain."

I hope that I fulfilled some need for you and that I gave you something to carry with you through your day.

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

Sweet Peace, Perfect Peace

The one thing that has gone with me on all of my travels in life is prayer. Have found that though situations change and people change (come and go), God has been my constant through prayer. That is why I always tell you to BYDWP (Begin your day with prayer.) I get up with Him in the mornings, and I take Him with me when I lie down to sleep at night.

I know that He is with me wherever I go because He has told me so. He has allowed me to get close to Him and allowed me to stay close to Him. That is why I don't worry much about given situations. I have learned to give it over to God and let Him handle it. I know that He loves me and I know that His shoulders are broader than mine. I further know that when I whimper, He knows. Know that when life brings me to tears, He knows; when I laugh, He knows; when I get exasperated, He knows, etc. He sees and knows all about me and continues to sustain me and bring me unsurpassable peace in all situations. That's the God that I serve. That is why I received a homespun "Pollyanna Award"  from the writers' group that I am a part of. That is why you might hear me singing the words:

Get your time in-n-n, it's praying time. Get your time i-i-n-n, it's praying time. Oh hallelujah! It's praying time.

And if you should find yourself in a situation where you rushed into your day and did not get your praying time in, don't fret. You don't have to be on your knees to pray to God. You can pray wherever you are and in whatever situation you are in.  If you find yourself on the bottom of the ocean, you can pray from there. How do I know? Jonah did, didn't he? Uh hum-m.

Therefore

When life throws me several curve balls, and I feel overwhelmed, I reach back into my arsenal of faith, and I use my well-used tool of prayer.  I know that God sees, knows and cares all about me just like a mother does with her newborn child. When I go to Him in prayer, He never turns me away, even when I have not done all that I should have. All I have to say is, "Father, please forgive and help me."

Let me tell you something. I never go anyplace without the Lord. That is why I have practically made a song out of BYDWP.  Let me put it in different phraseology. When you go into the day without prayer, that is like a soldier going into battle with nothing but goodwill. Can you imagine David going up against Goliath without the Lord, but with only goodwill?! Ha Ha, I think not!

And Now You

Just as my mother had me to build my life around prayer and my Gran Gran underscored that practice for me by stressing the importance of reading my Bible, I am doing the same for you. They both knew that one day, maybe after they were gone life would have a go at me. And they were right. You see, this praying person has known poverty, faced traps set by enemies, been the victim of racism and jealousy, etc. You are reading the blog of a person who has been the recipient of answers to prayers prayed, to name a few:

• Prayed the way out of poverty


• Prayed the way past racism


• Prayed the way over traps


• Prayed the way past the limits that another's jealousy would have set


• Prayed for by the saints (Prayers of the righteous availeth much,  James 5:16, KJV)

Lastly

As I have said many times before, "For peace that surpasseth all understanding," (Philippians 4:7, KJV) get your praying time in.

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

 

This Prayer Thing

As humans, when something is good to us, we usually talk about it. That is just the way that we are wired. And our talking about a given thing makes others want to try it. Hold that thought for a moment.

Now, getting back to prayer, our subject for this month.  Why am I taking a whole month talking about prayer? Simple, it takes a whole lot of prayer to make it in this Christian life down here. If there are people who are discouraged and I write a few words to encourage them, then I am doing what the Lord has commanded me to do in Matthew 5:16 and Isaiah 50:4.

 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16, NKJV)

“The Lord God has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is weary. (Isaiah 50:4, NKJV)

Now, back to the thought that I asked you to hold in the first paragraph. As I have said before, God has people like me to tell you what He has done for us. Why, so that you will remember or learn that He is faithful and that He will take care of you and your cares, too. If you believe in Him, that is. God wants you to present all your cares to Him and leave His throne with a lightheartedness that you may not have known for quite some time. God will take care of you because He loves you; He is faithful, and He has written it in the Holy Writ to give you assurance. (Hebrews 4:16) You see, if I tell you often enough, with enough passion and with enough conviction, you will be convinced enough to try Him yourself. All it takes is a little belief (a little faith), and He will handle the rest.  And then...it will be like an avalanche.

Folk will start to ask you how you are making it through whatever trials and or troubles that you have with such lack of worry. And that is when you start to tell your story just like I have been telling mine. Yes, you will tell your story because you want to always stay in good standing with Him, so you will do the things that He has asked you to do, such as:

• Loving others the way that you want Him to love you


• Asking for forgiveness of your sins as you forgive others


• Thanking Him for answered prayer


• Spreading the knowledge of His goodness to your brother, sister, and neighbor and giving them the tool to take their situation apart and analyze it and come up with the same puzzled and wondrous summation that you did - that though their problem may be the same as it was an hour or day before prayer, that they are different because they no longer are worrying about it! Uh oh! Another one will have been taught to pray and to learn to love it.


• Going on about your day, doing good wherever you can with a smile, a kind deed, etc.  You might pick up a motto similar to mine, "Doing What I Can, While I Can."


• Remembering not to be surprised when you get the answer to the prayer that you prayed and remembering that nothing in this world lies beyond the reach of prayer unless it lies beyond the will of God.


• Realizing that prayer did not go out of business in Biblical days. There is no Gone to Lunch sign on the door of God's prayer answering business.


• Remembering that you do not have to worry about anything that threatens to destroy your joy,  your happiness. nor your peace.

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

Here are three poems for you to enjoy about prayer:

Just Keeping in Touch

I awoke this morning and

My feet touched the floor

"Thank You, Lord, for one day more

In humble thanks, Dear God

I say, "It's You I adore."

You have allowed me to see

A plethora of days

You've charted my course

And guarded my ways

For all that You have done and do

I humbly bow and say, "Thank You."

********

Learning to Trust Him

You just have to learn to trust Him

Even when trusting Him is hardest to do

You have to show Him that your faith, though weak

Is still in Him by virtue of the great cloud

Of witnesses in the Holy Writ and by virtue

Of living witnesses that you have gotten the chance to talk to

Who continue to tell and pass down their story

That gives the God of heaven, glory.

********

Spirit Within

Sometimes thoughts just flow

As if they have a will of their own

As if they know the way to go

To reach the presence of the Holy One

But then, the Spirit dwells within

The hearts and minds of faithful men

To help us pass some perilous zones

So that hope is not lost, and joy is not gone.

 

A Set Time Every Day

Let’s start today’s blog off with an example from the movies. You have seen those old mafia movies where the mafia boss’ word is a law unto itself. No one willingly crosses a mafia boss, right?

So, in our scenario today let’s say that a man is at the end of his rope and is close to giving up. His wife and two-month-old baby will be evicted from their apartment in three hours. There is a shelter that they can go to, but not as a family. Joey B. is a family man and vowed when he married his Stella to always provide for her. There are no close family members left. They are on their own. Then a friend from his childhood says to him, “Joey B, I know this guy that might be able to help you. I mean, what you got to lose, huh?”

 

At the Mafia Boss' Office

Yep, you guessed it. Joey B. goes to see this mafia boss, and the mafia boss says to him, “What’s the problem, Joey B? I knew your old man from back in the day. He was a square guy who kept his nose clean.” Joey B. tells the mafia boss his problem, and the mafia boss says, “No problem, Joey B. I will take care of it.”

 

Because the mafia boss was a man of his word, the eviction never happened, and Joey B. got a regular job as maintenance supervisor at a new factory and moved from the basement to a bigger apartment so that there was a bedroom for the baby.

 

Joey B. was fortunate in that his father had been such a square guy that the mafia boss liked, huh? He knew someone who was powerful!

 

POWER

Uh hum-m-m, well WHO do you think is more powerful, JEHOVAH GOD or some mafia boss? Exactly! That is my point! You have access to the most powerful POTENTATE that has ever been or ever will be. And HE loves you.

 

You really should read Hebrews 4:16. In that scripture, the Lord says to you, (and I am paraphrasing,) “Do you, oh child of MINE, have a problem? Tell me about it. You can approach MY throne at any time, and I will hear your request and take care of you. But you have to be faithful to ME, and you have to ask. I know how to take care of you because I created you. Do you hear ME? You are MINE, and I love you more than you know. Always remember that. Now, what’s your problem?”

(I did take poetic license with this passage, but the meaning is very clear. You have a FATHER, WHO sits on the throne of Heaven and all HIS resources are available for supplying your needs. Folks, it just does not get any better than that.)

 

So

When life has your back against the wall, you just keep praying and believing.

• God will work things out for us if we keep our faith intact, no matter what our enemies plan. No matter what state we are in, in our lives, we must never forget to pray. Have a set time to pray every day. Read the poem below:

 

Do you do your best talking to Jesus in the

Wee hours of the morning before the break of day

Me too, don’t know what it is about that time

But it is then that I can articulate best what I want to say.

It is easy for me to approach His

Throne at that early hour

So, that I can bask in His love and in

His infinite sense of power.

                                        -excerpt from Chopping My Row

 

********

 

No matter what we are going through

Begin your day with prayer and peace of mind

Is what you will find.

 

Hebrew 4:16 - Know this scripture and put it into practice. I can never get enough of the knowledge and the experience of prayer because the more I learn, the more I yearn.

 

Are You a Worrier or a Prayer?

I told you before that I have always been a deep thinker and that I spent 30 years as a teacher. Yes, if you guessed that I had my students thinking deeply you are correct. I did indeed teach my students to become deep thinkers, for which, I still get “Thank You’s” to this day. And you know folks, all I was doing, was performing my job by teaching my kids to want to learn by teaching them to love to learn! You did not hear me, so I am going to say it one more time. I taught my children to want to learn by teaching them to love to learn.

And I have been trying to do the same thing for you. Say what! Yes, you heard me correctly. Teaching you to want to pray by teaching you to love to pray. Not for all of you because some of you are way ahead of me and I applaud you. But for the sake of the others, stay with me as I break it down to them, okay?

Driving the Point Home

How many of you have something on your mind that is worrying you? Sometimes as we are struggling to live this life down here, situations get to be too much for us, and we feel like we cannot do it any longer.  News flash! Worrying about it will not make it go away but praying about it sho will.

My advice to you is to seek to get close to HIM because when you get close to the Lord, you will find that that closeness nourishes your soul and you will find yourself snuggling up to Him more and more because to know Him is to love Him. You will find yourself receiving nourishment from your prayerful study of His word and your daily presence before His throne, for you will become a person who wants to pray because you have learned to love to pray. Here’s what you do:

• Start your day off with Him. Don't wait until your life is a mess before you go seeking Him And don't seek Him later in the day after you have gotten to work or taken care of pressing needs, etc. Don't relegate God to the fringes of your life. When you meet a cherished friend, you don't ignore them until it is convenient, do you? No, you don't; so don't do similar things to our Lord. Okay? If you will put Him first, He will be near at all times. This is what I have found to be true through the years.


• Make sure that your life is free from sin. Always keep yourself in a condition that you not only can pray for yourself and others but that you do it.


• Thank Him for His lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness. Remember that I told you that He delights in these things. (Jeremiah 29:11)


• Don’t forget the scripture that says that the “Prayers of the righteous availeth much.” (KJV James 5:16) Use the members of the church to help you through your Johnson grass or stormy times. Though they are chopping rows of their own, they will come together to help you if you ask. You are all in the field of cultivating souls, and they are working right alongside you.


• Address the Father with thanks for previous blessings.


• Ask for the building up of your faith daily as you begin your day with prayer.


• Ask the Father for what you desire.


• Ask in belief.


• Ask in Jesus’ name.


• Give your prayers power by showing love and praying for more than your family. Pray for the church leaders and the preacher, too. When was the last time that you prayed for the less fortunate, the church leaders, the church as a whole and the church worldwide, world peace? (James 5:16) Remember in Luke 8, Jesus was moved with compassion because of the multitude and their need.

If you can feel the love through this blog that I have for Him, good! Dear one, you feel that love because He first loved me and asked me to love you, too. And so I do. John 13:34-35,

 

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

 

You have set time for eating every day, a set time for going to work, a set time for watching television, etc. In fact, you have a set time for most things that are important to you. Then, you ought to have a set time for prayer. Begin your day with it. You will be glad that you did for you will find out that HE knows how to take care of you better than you do yourself, in spite of the fact that you have been living as you all of your life. (tee hee) Not so surprising, HE knew you before you were even, you!

 

Short Order

Have you ever heard the term short-order cook? Do you know what it means? Well, this is a term that I grew up hearing in the earlier years of my life. Heard this term in reference to what my mother did for a living for a while. She was a short-order cook. Webster defines short-order as preparing or cooking food that is done quickly to a customer's order. So, in short order means performed or supplied quickly.

Today is the day that I told you that we would deal with a case in point that had a short-term answer to a prayer. Here is the Case in Point:

Case in Point - There was a time in my younger days when I had a big problem. I had worked it every way that I knew how and it was not getting any better, in fact, it seemed to be getting worse. I went to a gospel meeting because it was my duty to go. I was listening to the preacher and I thought to myself, you know you are a really good speaker, but we both know, life does not work that simply. I remember thinking, “I wish it were that simple.” But he was like a broken record and he kept on and kept on talking about the benefits of prayer. I never will forget, I looked at him and gave him a deadpan look while thinking, “Yeah, right!”  but he talked about it so much that I decided that I would give it a try.

When I Got Home

So, when I got home and got to a quiet place I prayed about my problem. I knew it was not going to get any better, but I prayed again. Then went on to bed. Now, y’all know how we get when a problem is heavy in our hearts; we go to bed thinking about it and wake up thinking about that same problem. And that is exactly what I did. I woke up with the problem on my mind and…wait a minute! Something was different. I felt lighthearted. Then I started thinking about what had me so worried and realized the problem was still the same but, I was different! But how? I got to thinking that maybe it was because I prayed about that problem in a quiet place after I had asked for forgiveness. That was my Ah-ha moment! That was when I finally figured out what was different, I realized that I had just gotten an answered prayer!  That was short order prayer answering!  Wow, prayed one night and to have relief from worry the very next day that the problem was in check and would be alright. I had that peace that surpasseths all understanding! I was so giddy that I wanted to try something else and see if it worked on that too.

And

When that happens to you, you will do just like I did and want to pray about something else that has been bothering you and something else and something else. And before you know it, you will be enjoying talking to the Lord and you will seek audiences with Him often. Why, because you will love to pray because you have been taught to love to pray. Remember a few lesson back, I told you that I had taught my students to want to learn by teaching them to love to learn. You, my friend, will have been taught to want to pray because you learned to love to pray. Sounds strange, doesn’t it? That’s okay; it works! (Chopping My Row, pp.  110-111.)

Moving On

Tomorrow, we will finish this case in point with lessons learned and move on in our treatise on prayer. I will give you some steps for effective praying that have proven beneficial to me.

Just a Little Bit (cont.)

"See if I don't!" Those are the last words that we heard Alicia mutter to herself as she set off to haul water from her aunt's house. You do remember that she was already chilled from her long walk home in the bitter January winds, don't you? From yesterday, you remember that she had just gotten the charcoal bucket lit for a semblance of heat and had to go back out into the cutting wind to get the water. I can tell you this. She prayed almost every step of the way and with each step a resounding refrain was building up in her brain. Yep, you guessed it, "I'm gonna be somebody someday. See if I don't!"

Let's Haul that Water

…She hoped her cousins wouldn’t give her a hard time about the water. She knew that her aunt had started dropping hints about how high her water bill had been being. She made it to her aunt’s and knocked on the door, “Who is it?” her favorite cousin called from within. “It’s me,” piped Alicia. “Doors open; come on in.” Alicia went inside and started her routine of filling up the two canisters. “Don't you ever get embarrassed about hauling that water? I wouldn't do it. That's what your brothers ought to be doing!” said her cousin.

 

“I know that’s what my brothers ought to be doing,” said Alicia. “But it's hard for Momma to make them do anything.  You know they’re teenagers and she can't make them do what she wants them to do and sometimes they make her cry. Somebody's gotta help Momma. So, I do it. I don't want to see her cry. Sometimes I hear her crying at night and I don't like to hear Momma cry. So, you know; I go get the water. It's okay. Now, about people laughing at me, they gotta laugh at something. If they didn't laugh at me, then they would be laughing at somebody else. Anyway, one day I'm gonna be somebody!”

********* 

 

 She hoped that she didn't meet any of her friends on the way home because you could hear the water splashing against the sides of the canisters. Alicia's coat was wet on one side by the time she got back home because one of the canisters had developed a slow leak. She hung the coat up on the back of the door in the bedroom and closed the door. She hoped it would be dry tomorrow because that was the only coat she had. It was so cold in the bedroom that maybe her coat would not be dry, but she had to take the chance and leave it in the bedroom with the door closed because she didn't want to smell like smoke when she went to school the next day.

First Things, First

Alicia couldn’t worry about Hank Gould nor anybody else, right then. She had to cook. She knew it would do no good to worry about him.

 

 Alicia went back in the front room and put the rice on in the rice pot. While she rinsed the chicken with a cup of water. When the rice got done, Alicia set the rice on her makeshift table, the metal chair that was beside the charcoal bucket.

Since there was no flour, she battered the chicken in meal and then put the frying pan on with a small amount of lard to cook the chicken in. Alicia remembered to use a very small amount of lard because she knew that the lard had to last for three or four weeks.

Momma had taught Alicia how to stretch the lard. She knew to use the fatback grease for cooking cornbread. And she knew to put the fatback grease back in the grease can after she finished frying anything. She browned the chicken on both sides and then poured the extra grease into the grease can. She then put one glass of water and one fourth of an onion in the frying pan to let the chicken simmer. Alicia had to be careful that the water from the frying pan did not boil over onto the charcoal and put the fire out. She knew that the room would be colder than it already was if the charcoal got wet.

Then Alicia put more charcoal onto the charcoal bucket to warm the room a bit more.

Ah, the Not So Joyful Cooking on a Charcoal Bucket

Alicia got sick to her stomach because of the fumes from the just started charcoal. She had to go to the door to stick her head out to get fresh air so that she wouldn't be sick.

She always kept a headache in the evenings because of the fumes from the charcoal bucket.

            After she had finished cooking, Alicia, again thought about her harrowing day at school.  "But, that's alright. That's okay; one day, I'm going to be somebody and I'm going to have pretty clothes and ain't nobody gon laugh at me then!’

One Day

                 Many of those high school days and nights long after her mother had fallen asleep, Alicia would go to sleep herself, with her mother’s words resounding in her brain and her prayers to Jesus on her lips, “Reach for the stars; I’m going to be somebody someday! Please help me to do it, Jesus; please help me (zz-z-z-z).”  - (excerpt from,  Chopping My Row, pp.  103-106)   

 

• 
  

  Prayer allowed a little girl who used to have holes in her socks to be sent to the school of Polishing and Hard Knocks to come through blessed and grown and, at last, to come into her own (her “one day”).

  
  

Here is a part of the "one day" that prayer led her to:

              

These are four of the results that the little girl who carried the water received as a result of her prayers. The publishing of the books is one of the long-term results of her prayers. Now, you know why she is standing on top of the tallest mountain in her world and is touting about prayer. The title of the next book soon to be published by this little girl grown is, as you probably have guessed, "From the Tallest Mountain in My World." And from her mountaintop she yells, "My faith remained so the blessings rained!"

As I told you on Wednesday, on tomorrow, we will be visiting one of the short-term results of the prayers of the little girl who is now a woman grown with a family of her own.

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

 

Just a Little Bit

Let me tell you just a little bit of my story and what I know about God's lovingkindness to His children. Going to tell you just a little bit about my journey through prayer. Today and tomorrow, I am going to take some cases in points from my life and illustrate why I have such a deep and abiding love for God and such an active prayer life. I will not give you the entire case in point, but just enough so that you can grasp the situation that I found myself in. I will give you one long-term prayer answered (presented today and tomorrow) and a short-term prayer answered (presented Friday and Saturday). Okay, here we go!

Case in Point:

I come from a single-parent poor family where all my mother had to give me were her God, her morals, and her ideals and I must say, “That was enough.” She always taught me to pray and "reach for the stars" as she told me time and time again that I was "bound to land among the treetops." 

• I had been wanting to be a teacher or a nurse since I was nine years old, but we had no money and could see no way for me to go to college, but I kept praying and believing and “Voila!”I went!


• I wanted to be a writer and “Voila!” I am!

I have not told you the entire path that my life took, but I have told you enough so that you can understand the determined mindset of the little girl in the following excerpt from my book,W.O.W. created w.o.w.:

 

“Nicely done, Ms. Brown, but try to keep up with the class. You might not get lucky next time.”

“Yes Ma’am” Alicia meekly murmured. She stole a look at Hank Gould and stuck her tongue out at him. He looked at Alicia with a “mess with me look” and blurted out, “Ms. Felicity, smells like something is burning and it’s hurting my nose.” Hank gave Alicia his best, “Now top that one, Girlie” glares.

 

The other kids chimed in, “Yeah, it does. I smelled it when I was passing out papers.” “Yeah, it’s been smelling like that all week.”

 

Alicia dropped her head as her eyes slowly welled up with tears.

“That’s enough class,” said Ms. Felicity sternly. “It is probably a balance in the lights going bad.”

Alicia glanced at Ms. Felicity and gave her a tremulous smile of thanks.

 

When the bell rang for class to be over, Hank walked by Alicia and whispered, “Cry baby!” as he (snickering) left the room.

 

It's So Cold

‘Sniff! Sniff!” Alicia trudged slowly home as tears rolled from her eyes. She could not walk slow long though, because the wind was cutting her in two!

She put her arm load of books down on the sidewalk and buttoned her coat and put her head scarf on.

Then Alicia picked up her books, wiped her eyes and running nose on her sleeve and kept pushing against the wind on her way home.

 

As she walked, she thought about what had happened in the last period class.  “Maybe they will have forgotten about it by tomorrow,” she thought. But with Hank Gould around, she knew not to count on it.

 

“One day,” Alicia thought, “I'm going to be somebody; see if I don't,” she muttered to herself. Alicia was so cold that she wished that some of the cars passing by would stop and offer her a ride. She did not mind the three mile walk on most days, but during the winter, it was rough.

She settled into her walking routine being sure not to step on the loose pebbles on the sidewalk because she had learned early on that loose pebbles hurt quite a bit when your feet are nearly numb with cold. Alicia quickened her step. She was thinking that she would be glad to get home so that she would be out of the wind. Whew, it was cold!

 

Oh, Goody, Cardboard Boxes!

She had to pass a local consumer store every day on her way home and she passed it today, she saw a mound of shoe boxes piled up next to the dumpster. Alicia crossed the street and started going through the mound of shoebox trash. Lucky day! She even found a shopping bag with two handles almost intact. She left that dumpster with a hefty shopping bag full of smashed shoeboxes, their tops and the accompanying tissue paper inserts. She wished that her brothers had been with her; then they could have brought all of the boxes home. Alicia sighed and was thankful to have been able to get the ones that she had gotten.

 

(Rip-p-p!) The loose handle on the shopping bag ripped just as Alicia has started across her front yard. She tried to juggle books, boxes and her pocketbook. She lost the battle with all three. Alicia was only a little bit embarrassed to have dropped her boxes. “So what; they see the empty boxes,” she thought. “They could be for a school project couldn’t they?”

But Alicia knew that she was not fooling anyone. She knew that everybody knew that their lights were turned off, in fact, probably had been peeping out of the window when the MLGW truck pulled the electric meters and turned the water off at the curb. They always made so much noise when they turned off the water. It was almost like they enjoyed clanking that long metal thing against the water cover like it was a gong.  “Boy, they must really enjoy their job,” was what Alicia had thought on more than one occasion.

 

Cooking Dinner

She was glad to get into the house out of the wind. She was also glad to rid her aching arms of her cumbersome burden. She looked at the little gas stove in the living room and wished she could will it to come on.  “Your daydreams are not going to get this charcoal bucket going,” she thought.

 

Now that she had the charcoal bucket lit, Alicia reached over to put the rice in the small sauce pan that Momma had named “the rice pot.”  Well, wouldn’t you know it; the water canister was empty.” Leave it to her brothers, drat them! Well nothing to do but get the canisters and get down to Auntie Bessie’s house before it got dark and get some water,” she thought.  Back out into the wind she went. The walk to her aunt's house was about a block long on one street and about a half a block long on the other street. “I'm going to be somebody one day; see if I don't,” she thought. “See if I don't!”

This case in point will be concluded tomorrow if the Lord wills.

Why Do So Many Witnesses Say It Is So?

"Ah-h, prayer - how important is it? Does it even work?  Why bother? These are all questions that have been asked with regards to prayer at various times in people’s lives. I do hope that when we finish this, those of you who believe in prayer will be buoyed up further in that belief and those of you who do not believe in it much or perhaps not at all will be willing to give it a try and be able to say, I prayed about it, so I  am not going to worry anymore about it." (Chopping My Row, p. 101)

There are certain folk that you can be around, and you will hear them talk about the Great God that we serve and the mighty benefits of praying to Him. Too, there are certain Biblical characters that come to mind when prayer is mentioned. The Bible is full of people who kept their belief in God during hard times and showed that belief by demonstrating a prayerful life and by talking about GOD. You may have friends who laugh and joke with you and have fun, but when things get serious, and trouble comes, they turn to God in prayer and are not ashamed to let you know it.

If

All of these people would not be touting the benefits of prayer if it did not work. This prayer thing has been passed down from generation to generation! There must be something to it. David was a man after God's own heart, and he was a strong believer in prayer. Daniel was willing to brave the lion's den because of prayer. I, who asked the Lord when I was a little girl to allow me tobe somebody one day am a strong believer in prayer. I mentioned in the last couple of lessons some of the things that I went through as a child that make me know that prayer works. I had heard my mother and some of the older folks talk about prayer, but oh, now! I have my own story to tell.

Why do we keep saying that prayer changes things? We keep saying it because it works and we know what life can do to a child of God if he/she is not strong! We keep saying that it works because we know how we were at our ropes end and how the words of some older saint or some Bible character gave us hope enough to try prayer.

And

When we got that first prayer answered to that problem that we thought would break us, we were hooked. We realized what the old folks and the saints from the Bible had been going on and on about. We had a gold mine, so to speak! Yes, folks, we were hooked on prayer. You can read about this in more detail in Chopping My Row, pp. 102-108.

Tomorrow, we will take our study on prayer a little further. By the end of this month, it is my aim that you be a praying person if you are not and a stronger praying person if you already are. It is my aim that your trust and love for the Lord will have grown to the extent that you would stand on top of the tallest mountain in the world and proclaim His love for mankind and your love for Him!

One Last Point

If you already know how valuable a relationship with God is, then you ought to tell somebody. Share that love because the world is hurting for lack of knowledge of God and His love for mankind.

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

A Look at Prayer

Prayer took a little nothing from nowhere and gave her a song to sing and a story to tell. I was born in Memphis, Tennessee, but as far as Memphis was concerned, I was of no particular value. I mean, my mother was a single parent, and we were not well-placed with regard to land nor money. Right? No, not quite. You see, you never know what plans the Lord has for you. Remember, He wrote the plan book for your life, and you have only glimpsed the pages that you have lived thus far. But the Lord knows the plan book from beginning to end.   He knows what is coming up in your life and when.

Case in Point

Let me tell you a little something that happened to me about three months back. I had just finished doing a ladies' day at a congregation, and when the program was over, people formed a line and stood there waiting their turn to hug me, shake my hand and offer platitudes. Even little kids came up to me. One little baby came up to me and just squeezed my legs. She just squeezed so hard and held on. She held on long enough that I began to wonder and her grandmother looked at me in amazement.

And I have had people to stand in line at several places where I have spoken to shake my hand. The first time that it happened, I was taken aback. The next time, I was slightly less taken aback and more introspective. You see, y'all; I am living today the prayers that I prayed in the yesterday of my youth when I asked to, "Be somebody one day." (Chopping My Row, p. 81)

Tomorrow

In tomorrow's blog, we will entertain this thought: "Why Do So Many Say It Is So, If It Ain't So?"

So what we have to do is trust Him to take care of us in our needs.   And how do we show Him and the world that we trust Him? By living a prayerful life is how.

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

Learned to Lean on Him in Prayer

Life has a way of cementing lessons in us that our parents tried so hard to instill. It has a way of making you reach back to those old lessons that you got tired of hearing your parents repeat. It has a way of sending you to your parents in humble submission and saying, "Y'all were right, Mom, Dad. I just wanted to say that to you."

And You Know What?

Yes, you find yourself going to the very ones that you thought were old-timey and didn't know anything but the way things were done back in the day. Yes, you lose some of that cocksureness and eat a bit of humble pie. How do I know? Been there; done that!

So

One of the things that I always saw my mother do was kneel and pray. She taught me to kneel and pray, too. I was a little hard-headed about some things, but prayer was not one of them. When I was younger and had just gotten out on my own, I did not know how to lean on the Lord totally. But when sickness hit my mother or my children, and I had been to all of the doctors, and had done all I could do, that is when I learned to lean on Him.

Strong Tower

You see, Momma had always been my strong tower, my go-to-person. But the strong tower was not so strong anymore. And my children, they looked to me like I had all of the answers and like they knew that I would make everything alright. I began to understand what my Momma's plight had been when my dad chose drinking and women instead of living with us and providing for us.

The Tables Were Turned

The Strong Tower was leaning on me! What was I going to do?! I learned to lean on the Solid Rock. I learned to call Him in times of plenty, health, sickness, midnight, etc. I learned to lean on Him and realized that He never got tired of me. I learned to lean and realized that He would not ever leave me. I understood my Momma's words when she said that the Lord was faithful and always would provide and would never, never leave me all alone.

For This Month

Having said that, I wanted to tell you that we will be focusing on prayer this month. And as I have told you many times before, always begin your day with prayer. Always! You see, you don't know if a given day is the day that you will meet old trouble, but you do know that if you begin your day with prayer, God will be by your side and will walk with you through whatever trouble you may encounter. Why, because you gave Him an invitation at the beginning of your day. Be blessed, and we begin our study tomorrow.

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones

Growing Up

Placed in the garden of life

You grow up to grow grown

To grow up to grow gone

...gone back home.

R.I.P. Stacie Boyd Capps

Family, you have our prayers and condolences during this dark time in your life.

Respectfully,

Alma L. Carr-Jones