Saying "Thank You"

Just as the love of God is spoken of throughout the book, “W.OW. created w.o.w.,” so is giving thanks to Him. In the 50th Psalm, verse 23, we see just how much giving thanks to the Lord means to Him.

Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me;

to those who go the right way I will show the salvation of God.”

If you will look at other versions of the Bible and how they word this same passage, it might be helpful to you. So, this shows you how the Lord likes thanksgiving or showing and saying that you are grateful for His love and care. You get more blessings by being grateful. Why, because He loves you anyway and wants to have cause to bless you.

Most people never give it much thought, but think about it. When there is something that we want from the Lord, we ask Him repeatedly don’t we? Sure we do, and what do we do when we get it? Yes, we thank Him in our prayers maybe once or twice, maybe a few more times, but then the novelty wears off and we rarely mention that particular thing anymore. 

But you know just like the Lord told us in Jeremiah 9:24 that He likes for us to brag on Him; here again, He is telling us what He likes. 

Jeremiah 9:24 but let those who boast, boast in this, that they understand and know Me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.

It’s a simple thing to delight the Lord, especially after all He has done for us. Think about it. Bragging on Him and thanking Him delight Him and He will respond accordingly. 

Isn’t He great, Y’all? And now you know why I will not stop talking about His love for us and will not stop thanking Him. He is my all and I am telling the world just that. You do the same and curry more favor with Him. You know that He loves you, so show Him and the world that you love Him.

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

Alma L. Carr-Jones

Christian Poet & Author

To God Be the Glory Finale - Order My Steps

 

As I told you in my book, “W.O.W. created w.o.w.,” God does not do things by half-measure. I had several epiphanies throughout the writing of this book. During one such epiphany, when I was enthralled by my Father’s workings, I penned these words:

When I think about the favor that God has placed on my life, I can’t help but
marvel at the fact that the GOD, Who orchestrated the cosmos; the GOD that initiated this thing we know of as time and placed a limitation thereon; the GOD that one day will usher in eternity; takes the patience and places HIS omnipotent eyes and ears on a tiny speck of dust called Alma, I am agog! ‘What am I that THOU are mindful of me?’

He has shown His love for me in so many ways and I just want to love Him back. When He gave me the words to write in my inspirational book of verse, He didn’t stop there. He gave me scriptures and questions for each poem in the book. And you are correct in surmising that He didn’t stop there with the book. He gave me a design epiphany so that I had a breathtaking cover. Little did I know it at the time, but He had planned for me to do an inspirational book based on this book of verse after I finished the next inspirational book that He had me working on. That book was Chopping My Row. There is no need for me to put a picture here because it is already listed in my list of books on this blog of mine. I did not think that I had anything else in me to write about concerning His love for us and my love for Him after I finished “W.O.W. created w.o.w.” But I was wrong two more times.

So, Now

As I work the work that He has for me to do, I realize that with each phase of my life, my life mile marker moves a little closer to my final trek that will take me to Jesus' throne. And when I get there I want to hear Him say, “Well done my good and faithful servant. Enter into the joys of the Lord.”
Because I want to be pleasing to Him in my work, I ask Him to, “Order My Steps.” I ask Him like the writer of the 119th division of Psalms did in verse 133.

133Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

With those words, I am asking the Lord to touch me so that all that I do will be pleasing in His sight.

If you get the chance, go to YouTube and listen to a favorite song of mine. The name of the song is, “Order My Steps.” Here is one of my favorite verses:

Bridle my tongue, let my words edify
Let the words of my mouth be acceptable in Thy sight
Take charge of my thoughts, both day and night
Please order my steps in Your Word
Please order my steps in Your Word

Then the song goes on to say, “I want to walk worthy, Jesus, according to thy will.”

The verse above is one of my favorites because I have been given the gift of using words. I want to speak and write to the good of my fellowman about the generosity of and the love that our God has for us.

Be blessed, Y'all and remember, you are never alone because He cares for you.

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

Alma L. Carr-Jones

Christian Poet & Author

 

To God Be the Glory (cont.) - I Don't Know Why

Have you ever marveled about the love that the Lord has for you? I have. Take this book of mine, for instance, the epiphanies of thought that have sprouted forth from me are mind boggling. 



I bow my knees and give Him thanks and praise for His continual love for me. And I know that I can do nothing alone. It is God that makes me be productive as I travel this life road.

To God Be the Glory

I remember when I was just on the precipice of life. I was equipped with the eternal optimism of youth and faith in God. I remember sitting in the Guidance Office of Manassas High School reading my scholarship letter for the umpteenth time. I remember that I couldn't help but pick up my Memory Book and read some of the autographs that had been written by some of my classmates. One autograph stood out to me then and still does, at times, now. It read:

May your joys be as deep as the ocean

And your sorrows as light as its foam

Any may you always have the wind at your back.

I have not always had joys nor have I always had the wind at my back but by the grace of God, I have come a long way from that little teenager who sat so full of excitement in that guidance office so long ago. I remember being looked at with a bit of disdain by some of the other college freshman. But, not for long because they discovered that I could write a pretty good essay. (smile) Yes, the Lord allowed me to find a niche group. Some of us finished together and are friends to this day.

As I think back over my life, I realize that the Lord has shown me favor in that He has allowed me to become a successful teacher, a minister's wife and an author/poet. People tell me that I did well as a teacher and do very well as a preacher's wife and as an author/poet. When people brag on me, I am quick to give God the glory. I tell them that anything that they see me do well, is not by me, but it is the glory of God shining  through me. God is the only reason that I have been able to accomplish the things that I have.

As we are reminded about in Psalm 49:18 and  Jeremiah 9:24, I brag on God for His goodness. But, you know, because of His goodness, I strive to give back to Him in whatever my hands find to do. (Cont. tomorrow)

 

 

Lessons You Learn

I have always been one of those people who shared any lesson that I learned with others. I learned early on in life that if something confused me it probably confused, at least one other person. You remember how some of us used to be. We would be sitting in a learning situation of some sort or another and would not ask a question because we did not want to feel uninformed or "look dumb." Y'all know what I am talking about.

Now, I realize that anything that the Lord allows me to learn is for the good of myself and for the good of my fellowman. Therefore, I share. That is why I do a daily blog. Jesus taught me to share when He taught me to care. Now you know why I sign my blog, "Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care." 

As I am doing my meditating each morning and as I live each day, my mind is like a sponge soaking up lessons to use for my blog. If something astounds me, then in some way it will sooner or later be featured in my blog. Yesterday and the day before, I did my blog on snippets of my Momma's life. But, I was not satisfied with the cap that I put on it so, I thought that I would add a couple of things to it via the way it impacted me. 

Here is a verse from a poem that I wrote in memory of my Momma back in 2016:

$35 dollars a week is not very much

That is what the lady lived on

And she took care of three kids, with such

Meager earnings as this - 

Life in her household was anything but bliss.

********

I think back at various times in my life and I see where I get my resilience from and my perseverance. Look at the lesson that the Lord allowed me to learn through my Momma:

• She made most of my clothes. And she cut some of her old dresses down to fit me. 


• She made my slips from the twenty-five-pound flour sack that she bought the flour in. She dumped the flour up in a lard can and voile, she had material to make me a slip.


• We had a container for meal as well. We did not keep meal in as large a quantity because sometimes the meal would go bad and have those little black bugs crawling in it, weevils I think. Anyway, that batch had to be used. I just had to sift the weevils out and keep stepping.


• Fatback was bought for frying as breakfast meat and boiling meat for seasoning the dried beans that we would have nearly every day. The fatback had to be boiled first to rid it of the excess salt that it was packed in. Then that water was poured off and it was fried. Oh, such popping there was as the last of the water was fried off of the fatback. When the fatback was fried, it tasted just like the chicharrones that you can buy in packages in the potato chip aisle at the grocery store. Uhm-Uhm, such good crunching there was! I never really cared for the boiled fatback though, so I would cut the skin off and eat that. It was quite tasty, too. 


• She never wasted anything. She used everything until it was used up.

My Point

Why did I tell you all of this about my early life and growing up years in my Momma's household? Simple, we are leaving a legacy daily. Are we teaching our children how to make do? If you don't do anything but tell them stories of how it was done, do that. Better yet, write it down. That is what I am doing. I am writing down how my Momma had the grit, determination, and faith to keep going. And you know what? She got to accomplish her goal of seeing her daughter settled in a fine job as a teacher. She got the chance to see her dream realized through me, as well as make sure that I was able to stand on my own two feet, with the help of God,  if my situation in life should change for whatever reason. And I have shared her legacy with you for yours... 

Be blessed.

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

Alma L. Carr-Jones

Christian Author and Poet

A Marvel of a Woman (cont.)

Momma never told us how much my brother weighed at birth, but he was small enough that she worried about his even catching the sniffles. She needed someone to come to her house and take care of her baby while she taught school. She could not get anyone. Her mother was dead and her sisters lived too far away. That's just the way it was. So, she quit her teaching job and stayed at home to provide the tender care that a baby needs, especially a preemie.

She and my daddy had to move out of the new home that they had just bought. They moved into a farmhouse provided for share-croppers. This is where you work the land in return for a place to stay, a charge account for foodstuffs and other things needed on the farm and for a small settlement at the end of the growing season. Momma had thought to go back to teaching the next school term, but a year of college was needed by then. Again, an offer was made to her so that she could afford college, but she had no one to keep her child.

Daddy decided later to move his family to northern Mississippi, which happened not to be so close to her Daddy. Life went pretty well for them for a time, but daddy started to go to juke joints on Friday nights and to hook up with various women. Momma stayed at home with the babies, of which there were two by this time. Momma had two boys. I was still nestled in heaven getting instructions for my sojourn to earth, I suppose. Fifteen months after my brother was born, I made my entrance into the world at a little hospital called Collins Chapel Hospital.

And now, many years later, I am here telling you my story about my Momma. My Momma was a strong believer in God and she passed that belief on to me. She taught me that things happen in life according to God's will. She taught me the value of prayer and taught me to depend on Him. She taught me that no matter what mankind says that you cannot do, it is up to the Lord. She could have let the situation with my daddy sour her on life and on God, but she didn't. Instead, she elected to teach me in word and by example, to always lean on and have faith and trust in God.

I embraced that teaching and now move from day to day as I try to lighten folk's loads with my living. I know that the woman, who I dub, A Marvel of a Woman," would be proud to see what I am doing in my second career. I am living my life for Jesus and my fellowman. And I tell you this, if you have had your setbacks, and who hasn't, don't let that determine your new boundaries. You keep stepping like my Momma did and like she taught me to do, and watch the Lord make your mountains into molehills.

I hope that I reached the person that  I was supposed to reach with this post. Be blessed, Y'all.

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

Alma L. Carr-Jones

Christian Author & Poet

 

 

A Marvel of a Woman

When I think back to the lady who was my mother, I marvel.  Listen to my story and you will see why. 

My Story

She began her life in an affluent home in rural Mississippi near a place called Pace. Her daddy was well-placed in life due to the singing and sharp business acumen of his parents. I understand that they were touring musicians who saved their money until they earned enough money to buy some land. I further understand that they settled down to farm.

My mother often told me how her Dad (my Grandaddy) raised hogs, vegetables, and some cows to feed the family. She told of having steaks many times during the week. She said that there were very few things that they went to town to buy. There was a peddler that used to come by selling some wares and sometimes they would be treated to some of his wares. But mostly, they ate what they raised on the farm.

She told of the idyllic days she remembered as a little girl when she and her sisters would make mud pies in the lead-crystal dishes that her mother did not care for. She often grieved over the crystal plates and bowls that her mother let them break up because she said she did not like them. We loved hearing about the days when our Momma would sit down and tell us about the way life used to be for her and her sisters. Then she would finish her reminiscing by saying that was the way it was then, but this is the way it is now. Then she would launch into her favorite tirade about falling from sugar to *!x*! The last sentence of her tirade was always, “That’s why you stay in school so that you can be somebody and have something one day, so help you God.”

I think she talked to me the most because I was always at home with her and because I was her only girl.  At any rate, I digress. Momma's days as a carefree girl came to an end when she met and married my daddy against her Daddy's wishes, and lost her mother within three short months after the marriage. She told me that her mother had been suffering from gallbladder trouble and that the last attack left her motherless.

Nevertheless, she carried on, doing the housewifely things that farmers wives do. She told me that it was a big day for her when her old principal drove to her house to visit her. He had come looking for her because they needed a teacher and he remembered how smart she was. After much him-hawing, she told him that she would talk it over with her husband (my daddy.) 

Daddy was against the idea of her teaching but they finally came to an agreement and she became a teacher. She taught for three years until she gave birth to my oldest brother prematurely. She said that she blamed herself for the premature birth because her sister was at her house and was teasing her unmercifully because she would not pick up the churn and pour my daddy some milk. She said that her sister said to her, "Child if that was my man done come in from the field all hot and tired I would pour him some milk." So, she did. She started hurting the minute she set the churn down and my oldest brother was born that night, a preemie. (Cont. tomorrow, if the Lord wills. word count already 582)

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

Alma L. Jones

Christian Poet and Author

Just Want to Say, “Thanks”

Today was one of those days that I thought in general and in detail about God’s goodness to me. And I just wanted to thank Him.

Dear God, my Father, my Friend

Thank You for Your love

Without which I would be lost.

Thank You for the tender mercies

That You employ when dealing with me

Thank You for Your arms of protection

That have  made this world leave me be.

Thank You for not dealing with me

The way that I deserved

Thank You for, instead, allowing me to serve.

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

Alma L. Jones

Christian Author and Poet

Timber Close

There is an old song that talks about sending up timbers. You can go to YouTube and hear it. It will bless your soul. I named this post today, “Timber Close.” One of the things that that phrase meant was praying to God. Are you Timber Close to anyone? That means that you pray for them. Remember the “...prayers of a righteous man availeth much.”

I said it once and

I’ll say it again

You can’t be close to God

And neglect your fellowman.

Who, besides your family 

Did you pray for today

Did you pray for the sick

Or homeless, jobless, and orphans

And anybody else that needs

Help along the way?

 

The bigger the shoes, the harder they are to fill

So be sure to pray for the one who wears the shoes still.

********

Have a good night and it is still not too late to pray for your fellowman.

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

Alma L. Jones

Christian Author & Poetess

Behind the Scenes Finale

My 2nd Account

I had wanted to be a teacher all of my life, and the Lord allowed it to be so. He worked behind the scenes to assure that our high school guidance counselor looked upon me with favor and allowed me to work in the guidance office. She was instrumental in my obtaining a scholarship and a student loan to go to college. (God working behind the scenes)

College

I will never forget the feeling that I had when I arrived at the college dorm and looked out of the second-floor dorm room window. My life had just taken a turn for the better. I didn't have, but one dress and one pair of shoes but that was alright; I was there. God had sent me to college...

My First Classroom

When you have carried a dream around inside you for so long, the actual obtaining of the dream will bring a euphoria of happiness that is indescribable. I remember walking up to my desk and running my hand over it and marveling at the fact that it was mine. I remember relishing the sound of my opening and closing the drawers in it. 

This first job was a special education classroom, but that didn't matter. I knew that it was just my getting my foot in the door. I had that optimistic belief that God would get me a regular classroom, after all, He could do anything. Couldn't He? And to be a regular classroom teacher was what I had wanted to be my entire life. So, I labored through that first year, that second year and on and on with my optimism about getting a regular classroom waning more and more with the passing of each year until I awoke one day to the realization that I had been teaching for 15 years!

 That was exactly half of my teaching career! What was taking so long for that regular classroom?  I had prayed and prayed and prayed and still after 15 years nothing happened. I remember thinking back to the fact that I had always wanted a third-grade classroom. That was never to happen. (Allow me to say this at this juncture: When we don't get what we want we have to trust God and know that He has His reasons.  We have to know in our hearts that God has a better plan.)

Then one Friday morning toward the beginning of the next school year, during in-service training, I received a phone call that I needed to drop what I was doing and go to see the principal of our local junior high school. I had paint in my hair and on my clothes because we had been putting a fresh coat of paint on a table in our special education room. I remember that I was concerned about the paint on my hair and my clothes. I was emphatically told that if that principal wanted to talk to me, then I had better go right then just like I was.

It was just a bit across town to where our junior high was, and I had butterflies all the way. My mind ran from a to z about what this man could want. When I walked into that school's office and was ushered into his office, I was tongue-tied. The principle seemed to glare at me for a second or so. I got the feeling that he was sizing me up. I started to squirm, and I could not hold his stare, so I let my eyes dart around his office and out of the window and finally back to him. He still had that implacable stare. There was a social studies book on the desk in front of him, and he slid it to me and said, "Be here Monday morning to teach sixth grade Social Studies. Then he nodded his head toward the door. I left his office on winged, but frightened feet. I did not go to my room that I was going to have, I just took that book and flew! I prayed all the way back to my special ed classroom, which wasn't mine anymore. I was in a fog the entire weekend. The next week I received two phone calls from two very influential people. I was told what to do in my new job and how to comport myself. I did that and, of course, stayed on my knees and the rest is history. ( I will say that during one of those phone calls, I learned why the Lord had never given me that third-grade classroom. You can think what you will about the reason, but some things you just do not divulge.)

The Lord did not just drop me at the junior high school and leave me. He made sure in big ways and in little ways that I knew that He was with me in my teaching efforts. He made sure that I knew that I did not walk alone and never had. I finished my teaching career in the regular classroom and was named to Who's Who Among America's Teachers each of those years. 

I had  some rocky hills to climb

 During those years in the regular classroom

But I did not walk the rocky crags alone

I had help from my Lord

Who sits on Heaven's throne

He was with me all the time.

 

There are some things that He did for me

That I am not at liberty to say

But I was blessed, enamored and awed

As I did His will, at the end of the day.

 

 

With this series of posts, I have been made to look within and back and have indeed seen that the benevolent God that I serve is working behind the scenes all of the time. I have found that throughout my life, God has been mindful of me and has been moving mountains for my good.

I can tell you now, that the more adverse your situation, the bigger blessing you will receive if you just remain faithful to God. Somebody just thought, "Say what?! Say again." And I will repeat the gist of what I said. The tougher the trials(s) that you go through, the bigger blessing you will have if you remain faithful, through it all. Remember Job. (Job Chapters, 1, 2 & 42, KJV) Remain faithful when you don't understand, and when it seems the whole world is conspiring against you so that you cannot smile,  smile anyway. There is no problem that you have that the Lord is not aware of, but you keep praying and keep stepping on.

And one day you will find that you have stepped from the craggy rocks that you had been climbing to smooth and cooling stairs of marble and from there to a moving stairway as you make your miraculous climb to the top. You will find that just like you could not seem to catch a break for anything, the breaks will fall into your lap at every turn. You will be overwhelmed with gratitude, and you will turn to the God of heaven and thank Him for working for you all of the time and for opening your insight further so that you could recognize that fact.

And then you will be like an announcer with a mega horn or a news commentator with a new piece of broadcasting equipment in that you will shout the goodness of God from the tallest mountain in your world. You will tell everybody, and you will not be ashamed to do it. In fact, you will talk so much about it that folk might not want to listen. But, that's okay, keep an upbeat outlook on life and be ready to tell all who ask about the goodness and faithfulness of the God that you serve.

Be blessed, and it has been my pleasure to share this series of posts with you. I hope that you went to worship today and gave praise to God and showed love to your fellowman by praying with him and for him. 

Remember, if you are His child, you are never alone, never. Umph, umph, umph, working behind the scenes...

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

Alma Jones

Christian Author & Poetess

Enjoy this post? Then you might enjoy my latest book, Chopping My Row. Available on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble.

 

Behind the Scenes (cont.)

 

Working Behind the Scenes



I inserted the graphic again because it may have needed a bit of explaining to you. I hope that you were able to ascertain from it that the two circles are intersecting and are spinning at right angles to each other. I hope that you can see the arrows that indicate the directional flow of their spin.

Beauty of the Design

This graphic is ingenious in its message and theme. Okay, this is the way that I mean for you to interpret it. The pink colored circle and the message it carries is a way of looking at life (for me, anyway) in general – ever keeping the rose-tinted glasses on. I like to call them glasses of faith. The green colored circle is a way of reminding one’s self of the fact that the Lord is ever mindful of His children and is always behind the scenes working things out because He is in control and because He cares for them. So, the message that the green circle is meant to convey is that no matter what kind of adverse situation you might be in, never lose your faith and never give up on God. Sometimes, it might take years for it to work out, but when it does…oh, the beauty of discovering His longsuffering love for you. Umph, umph, umph, even when you were complaining or whining, He was working things out for you anyway, all because you are His and He loves you. Have you ever had a time like that in your life? I have had many, but I will only share two of them with you today. (Hmm-m, I try to stop writing at 500 words in a post. I have already used 295. Wordage really flies when you are having fun.)

1^st Account (cont.)

Yesterday, I stopped my narrative at the point where I was in the midst of an almost cynical pity party. I just didn’t understand why this book was not being snatched up by the publishers. I just didn’t get it. But, after talking to several authors and learning that poetry was a hard sell and learning that people did not want to read inspirational poetry and further learning that new authors are looked at as having to prove themselves, especially poets because the world is saturated with poets. I found out that it takes quite a bit of marketing, too which was another huge expense.

It has been six long years since I began my author/poet journey. I have learned that writing is a continuous learning venture and have been fortunate enough to be asked to join a local writer’s group. I have since published five books, one of which, has been dubbed “one to watch,” (Chopping My Row [inspirational prose]) and will be featured in a nationally known publication. I can see the hand of God in all of my working as an author. But I can tell you this, I have learned that if I write a book that blesses one person, that is a job well done.

There is something big pending and I am not at liberty to say any more about it. It will be the biggest thing that has ever happened in my life as an author, I can tell you that. And while in the beginning, I was wondering where God was, He has allowed me to learn that He was working behind the scenes all of the time! Who do you think gave me the graphic for this series of lessons on faith? Umph, umph, umph, all of the time!

Well, I have reached 639 words so I will give my other account to you tomorrow if it is the Lord’s will.

********

All the Time

Be blessed

And don’t stress

Paint it green

For God ever worketh

Behind the scenes.

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

Alma L. Jones

Christian Author/Poetess

"Chopping My Row," is a spiritual guidebook meant to help Christian women bear their enormous responsibilities. Christian mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and aunts are charged with raising the next generation of believers, and women must work hard to ensure that the new crop carries the same steadfast belief in God.

Behind the Scenes

Working Behind the Scenes

Good evening! I thought that today I would be able to finish our theme of being able to maintain your faith through it all.  That will not happen. However, we will keep working on it to finish it. Before I give you two of the many times that the Lord worked behind the scenes for me, I wanted to talk about Joshua and Jericho for a moment.

I will give you the short version here. You can go to Joshua chapter 6 and read the entire story of the collapse of the wall. The children of Israel had to conquer the City of Jericho so that they could occupy the land that had been promised through Abraham about 500 years earlier.

Jericho was surrounded by a great earthen rampart, or embankment, with a stone retaining wall at its base. The retaining wall was some four to five meters (12–15 feet) high. On top of that was a mudbrick wall two meters (six feet) thick and about six to eight meters (20–26 feet) high.4 At the crest of the embankment was a similar mudbrick wall whose base was roughly 14 meters (46 feet) above the ground level outside the retaining wall (see diagram). This is what loomed high above the Israelites as they marched around the city each day for seven days. Humanly speaking, it was impossible for the Israelites to penetrate the impregnable bastion of Jericho.  (Ernst Sellin and Carl Watzinger, Jericho die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen, Osnabrück, Otto Zeller Verlag, p. 58, 1973 (reprint of the 1913 edition)

You see how impenetrable the city seemed to be, probably much like some of the problems that you have had in your life. They all worked out, did they not? The Lord was working behind the scenes for Joshua and the Israelites. He had already determined that He would give the city over into their hands before they began their trek around the wall for seven days. They had to act on faith, which they did and God came through for them. Do you know what scientists have discovered about Jericho? It suffered a massive enough earthquake that the wall fell flat. Uhm-hm-m, God working behind the scenes.

In My Life – First Account

Like I told you yesterday, I have become accustomed to praying to God about problems and having them worked out. So you can imagine when I really wanted to write my first book that I was gung-ho. I knew Who I served, and I knew that He would take care of any problems and situations that arose. Again, like I told you earlier this week, yes, up to the time of the writing of my first book, I had had my share of ups and downs, but had learned to accept whatever His will was for me.

But this was different. This was a book, and it was mostly poetry about Him, so I knew this was a winner. I mean He had brought me through so much, hadn’t He? Ha ha ha, I did not have a clue. I had written several poems and finally let myself be talked into writing a book. I labored through the process of amassing enough poems to put in a book, took the time to put them into categories, came up with appropriate titles for them, bought a dictionary of rhyming words, purchased a new computer, etc. It seemed that the writing was always needing something, either paper, ink, folders, notebooks, pencils, ink pens, etc. But I knew that my book was destined to do great because it was a labor of love for me about God.

Writing was so expensive, and when I got ready to have it printed, nobody much was interested in a poetry book! Nobody much wanted even to take the time to read it. I could not believe it. Of course, I prayed about it. Then one day a friend of mine told me about crowdfunding. I found out that people will pay to have your book published. All you had to do was ask. So, I started my crowdfunding campaign. I put aside my thoughts that I was begging, I mean this is the way authors got published I was told. (I could laugh loud and long on that one.)

Y’all, that crowdfunding campaign was a hot mess. There I had gone and put my name out on the web begging (what it felt like to me) and everybody knew it, and I did not raise enough to get the little bit that was donated. It was a pittance, and I was a pitiful wreck of a mess. I had succumbed to begging, and everybody knew it. I felt like a failure because I had put myself in a position where people could see me sweat and gloat about it. (In my mind, I kept wondering where God was.)

I still didn’t understand why I could not get my book published. Well, I managed to scrape up funds and have my book self-published. I used to be embarrassed about that until I found out that that was the way that some of our most successful writers got started. And anyway, my book was a good book; it really was, and people would want it if only they knew about it. Ha Ha Ha (cont. tomorrow)

I did get the graphic done that I mentioned to you. It is rough, but maybe you can make it out.



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

Alma L. Jones

Christian Author & Poet

 

Because

 

I have a lesson that I sometimes do for ladies’ days that is entitled, “If the Lord...” I take those last few words of the preceding sentence from the scripture Romans 8:31 which says, “If the Lord is for us, who can be against us?” I paraphrased that a bit, but you get my drift. We will come back to that statement in a moment.

But, first I want to ask you something. Why do you suppose that we have trouble? I figure like this:

Christians have trouble because they have given their allegiance to God. And you know the scripture says that all who live Godly shall suffer persecution.

• Why was Daniel thrown into the lions’ den? (Working behind the scenes because He had already talked to the lions and made sure they knew what was what. Either that or He locked the lions’ jaws and crippled their claws or immobilized them. We do know that the lions were hungry because of the fate of the men who were thrown in later.)


• Why were the three Hebrew boys thrown into the fiery furnace? (He was working behind the scenes because He was already in the fire waiting for them and suffered them to come to no harm.)


• Why did David have to hide from Saul? (Working behind the scenes when He had Jonathan, Saul’s son, to tell David to flee because it was not safe for him any longer at Saul’s place.)


• Why did Pharaoh tell Moses to see his face no more because on the day that he did, Pharaoh would have him killed? (Working behind the scenes because He had already said that He would show His powers in Egypt. Had already arranged for the angel to go to the homes that did not have the blood on the doorposts.)

I could give many other examples, but the ones listed above are enough for our lesson today. Here’s the thing. All the people mentioned in the bullets above were in trouble because they all were trying to carry out the will of God. So, that ought to tell you that if you are trying to carry out God’s will for your life, you will suffer for it.

And

Why didn’t they stop when they were threatened with death? What drove them to keep going despite mortal peril? Why would God let them go through so much when all they were trying to do is serve Him? Remember yesterday in the poem at the end of the blog; I talked about how things from my past had been worked out when I prayed, and that fact has me moving steadily on in my quest to do my work for the Lord.

 

But

Oh, but wait a minute! We can see from the people above that, though they had some hard knocks and some trials while trying to do their work for the Lord, God had them in mind all of the time. He had a plan and was working on it all the while, sort of like behind the scenes. Say what? Yep, that is correct. Now you know why it is necessary to have faith and how it can make you feel like a million even though the weight of the world is resting on your shoulders. I told you yesterday that 1 Peter 1:5-7 says that God cares for you.

I am going to tell you tomorrow about two times in my life that He was working behind the scenes, even though I did not know it. When I finish my stories, you will be like me and give new credence to the words of the scripture, Romans 8:28 and Romans 8:31. To me, those two scriptures go hand in hand. One supports the other, and the other supports the one. I am going to do a crude drawing of how they play out in my mind. It will give you something to think about concerning your faith in God and continuing to step on.

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

Alma L. Jones

Christian Author and Poetess

Will post my crude graphic sometime tomorrow if the Lord wills.