BUT, I HAVE A FATHER!

 Umph! Umph! Umph! (Staring deep into space) What? Who? Oh, it's you, blog reader. I was just thinking about the fact that I received some information that astounded me yesterday.  I received a phone call from a friend of mine whose husband has a terminal illness. She has been in and out of the hospital for the past month with her husband, mostly in, and she called me to tell me that our book, W.O.W. created w.o.w. has been very helpful, motivating, and faith-building to her, and has made it so that she does not despair. She said, "I just wanted to call you and tell you that. I just wanted you to know how this book that you did, Alma Jones, has blessed my life and keeps on blessing me. I have it in front of me now." 

And now, my readers, I have a confession that I want to make to you. For the past week, I had thought about not doing my blog anymore. There I was thinking about not writing anymore because nobody much cared one way or the other, and she calls me and tells me what she did! (Talk about eating humble pie and about being sent a care package from the LORD with my name written all over it! That's why I will praise HIM no matter who does not like it and tries to shush me! But, let me get back to my story, now that you know that I am better.) Yep, you heard me; I had thought about not writing any more books, too. I thought many things over the course of this past week.  You say, "What?!" Yes, I thought about all of those things. "Why?' you ask. Well, it's sort of a long story. Are you sure you want to hear it? Oh, okay, I will give you the short version, then. I had received some news that knocked me to my knees and caused my faith to be in shards at my feet, and as a result, was having a pity party that threatened to grind up the remnants of the faith that already lay broken at my feet. I received news that devasted me as much as the death of my mother did, several years ago. I won't bore you with the details, just suffice it to say, that I have not prayed as hard and repeatedly since my mother died. I knew that if I didn't pray, I would not be able to climb this particular mountain. I also knew that my blog would not last through two weeks of no show from me. 

For the past week, I have been living in C/T times. I have been exisiting in a vacuum. I didn't stop doing the blog because I knew that there are some of you out there that depend on reading my blog and others who, while you might not depend on it, do like to read it. So, what I did was reach within a ready made source and keep the blog going with a minimum of effort while I got the furnace of my faith restoked. Yes, you guessed it; I reached for W.O.W. created w.o.w. as the source of easy inspirational pieces. You see; I figured that since I knew the book inside and out, since it was mine, I wouldn't have to think very much at all. What I had not counted on was being fed poems and thoughts to include in the blog and being fed myself in the process. The book, that the Lord gave me the inspiration to do was now feeding me, as well as others! The daily doing of the blog pushed the shards of my faith back together and the phone call that I mentioned earlier, cemented it back together for me. W.O.W.! Talk about being rejuvenated! Umph! Umph! Umph! What a mighty GOD we serve! I felt like what Maya Angelou wrote when she said something to the effect of being a rainbow for somebody else's cloud while battling storms of your own.

You see; I had figured that since I had had to put my momma in the ground all those years ago and had made it through that, that I could handle most anything. Ha! Ha! Ha! That is almost laughable!

BUT, I have a FATHER! That's why I always tell you about prayer. There are some things that you, as strong as you think your faith might be, just cannot handle. This past week, I got hit with a supercell of a storm! As if the first thing were not enough,  I was hit with several knockout blows, this thing and that thing and yet another thing, and all major, mind you. I, who was knocked to my knees, was a crying, crawling and praying mess. BUT, I HAVE A FATHER!

Here is the snippet of W.O.W. created w.o.w. that I want to share with you today:

So, I want you to get into the habit of talking to God. When you do, you will build that relationship of faith and trust that is so important to the Lord and is important to you, as well. You see if you get into the habit of talking to HIM, you will look upon HIM, as not only your FATHER, but as your friend, too. There is a song that says, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” and truer words were never spoken. So what to do when in C/T times:

1.     Keep going.

2.     You do not give up.

3.     You remember WHO your FATHER is and exercise the spiritual privilege of prayer (i.e., talking to GOD).

4.     You remember that all is never lost, though the price of continued faith is often exorbitant! What you don't do is give up on your faith. You keep those rose tinted glasses on.

5.     Be mindful of the fact that if you give up on your faith, the next step is that you will give up on God. Then the adversary has you just where he wants you, at his mercy and he has none!

6.     You read your Bible and call to mind the numerous times that the Lord has come to the aid of His children. You remember His track record by remembering Daniel, the Hebrew boys, and Joseph, to name a few.

7.     You read the 46th chapter of the book of Psalms.

 Doing What I Can, While I Can,

 Alma Jones 

If I had to put a number eight on the list mentioned above it would be:
8. BUT, I HAVE A FATHER!