ABC's and 123's

Hello, all. I hope that you're faring well this morning. Me? I am on the mend and moving right along. Thank you for asking. Did you BYDWP?

With storm season about to be upon us, I thought that I would address that subject a tad this morning.  If you have been living a number of years as an adult, then you know that stuff happens in life that we have no control over. Right? Uh hum. You know the kind of stuff that I am talking about, soul shaking stuff, stuff that makes your brain forget how to formulate, stuff that makes you feel like you are in a nightmare - yet you can't wake up. Most of us have had those times and if we look back to those times it seems like we are looking back through a fog.

How many of you out there are avid readers? Several of you, I think. You can pick up a book of most any type and read to your heart's content; can't you? Think back for a moment for me. Remember when you first learned to figure letters and words out, how amazed you were? You were learning the basics of written language. The same can be said of when you learned about numbers and how to do simple computations. Remember how proud you were of being able to recite your addition and later on, your multiplication facts?

Sometimes now, you have to go back to the basics when sounding out a word that you do not know or
try to remember simple processes in math when you do not have a calculator handy. Either way, you always go back to the basics. That is an applicable rule of life that we have learned. Do you not realize that when life turns our world upside down and nothing and nobody makes sense anymore, that is the time to go back to your basics as well? Basics in faith that is. You have to go back to those simple faith times when there was nobody but you and the Lord. That is when you humbly go down on your knees to your Lord and plead your case to Him. Any of you ever had to do that? I submit that you have. BUT, then you got sweet relief! The relief that was so piercingly sweet that it defied description. The problem was still there, but Jesus, in His infinite wisdom, had the situation in hand now because you relinquished it to Him. Remember how you rejoiced and how you smiled? Well, whether you knew it or not, the world looked at you and marveled at your faith and at your ability to smile during your trials.

I said all of that to say this. If your world turns upside down again or for the first time, don't give up, don't wring your hands and don't despair. Instead, go back to the basics, the ABC's and 123's of being a Christian. You will find that your relief is already crafted for you and your growth vitamin has been laid out for you to take even as the world watches. Who knows? You may win a soul for the Lord by your reaction to your adverse times. That, my friend, is deep isn't it? Still, it is so true.

Careful how you react to adverse situations

When your world is turned upside down

You might bring a soul to Jesus by

Your ability to smile when most folk would cry.

So remember the ABC's and 123's

Of faith and the God, Who orchestrated it all

Who uses your faith to speak to

The sinner man of the gospel's loving call.

                                                                                         (Excerpt from Excelsior poetry book)

Doing What I Can, While I Can
Alma Jones 

For Pondering.
1. Would you say that the writer of this poem was a person of great faith? Why?
2. Define ABC's and 123's, avid, relinquished, and formulate.