I Think I Can

  2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ...

Many times we are defeated by the biggest bully in our own life ~ our own thoughts! Our minds can trick us and make us believe we cannot do something before we have had a chance to try. We see it in our small children as they begin to learn a new sport or trying something new. They do not believe they can do it until they begin to try, fail and try again. 

Some of us grow up with those same childhood fears of failure and allow our minds to convince us that we are not capable to do it, or learn it or succeed. We all have bully's in our life but many times we ourselves are responsible for allowing the bully in our thoughts to win. God clearly shows us in the scriptures that ALL things are possible with Him. Trust God instead of the bully in your head and see what a difference it can make in your day!

~Don't let the problem Work you, Allow God to Work the problem for you~
Terry Squires @OneImpactBible 




This picture was taken at my home, April 2012.

Friendship Making an Eternal Impact

This is a story that my mother (Kay Smith) wrote about how she came to know Christ:

I grew up in a home where neither Mom or Dad or my sister attended church.  My grandmother would come each month and take me to Sunday School.  She later gave me a Bible for my 16th birthday.  I had a neighbor who attended a church nearby and constantly invited me to attend church with her.  I did not pay much attention to her constant invitations but decided one day to tell her that I would go with her if we invited other friends in the neighborhood.  We decided on a Sunday and all of us walked to church with her.  I remember that the first thing that caught my attention was the choir singing and later the congregational singing.  I don’t remember the sermon but we all enjoyed the music and decided to repeat our visit in future Sundays.  

The preacher seemed to emphasize salvation by grace in each service and gave an invitation  to accept Christ and become a Christian.  One Sunday morning in January I realized that I had never taken that step and thought about it all day.  That evening we all returned to the church and I stepped out into the aisle to go forward and make a profession of faith in Christ.  In fact, my friends followed me to the front of the church and we prayed and accepted Christ and were baptized that evening.  

That was in January, 1955.  My life changed spiritually from that day forward and I thank God for a friend who did not give up on inviting me to church.  Thank God for churches that preach the Gospel and reach out to all those who are willing to come and listen.  Thank God for good music in churches which was the first thing that drew my attention and made me want to return.

Psalm 145:16 You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

This picture was taken of my mom and me in Ardales, Spain overlooking the lake in 2022.

Crazy People

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go...Genesis 28:15a 

The Bible is full of crazy people according to the worlds standards. To name just a few, let's look at Noah who was building an ark to prepare for a flood in an area of the world that had never seen rain. Joseph who took care of his family in spite of being sold into slavery by them when he was young. Moses who gave up all the comforts of Egypt to lead the Israeli nation into the wilderness for 40 years. There are so many stories in the Bible about people who looked like losers but died winners.

God has created us to be a winners not losers. The one thing all of these "crazy" people have in common is that their natural ability played a minor role in their success, instead it took courage & faith. These individuals had supernatural success. When God is with us, we cannot fail. It does not matter who we are, what we have gone through, or what others think of us; what matters is that God is with us, in us and for us.

Kay Warren writes in her book, Choose Joy: At Saddleback Church, sometimes we repeat this sentence together as a congregation: "I'm broken, but I'm not crazy." You can sense the release  and relief that washes over those gathered as we affirm this truth to one another.  

 A picture I took of one of my grandkids, December 2013.