Contemplations

HEAVEN'S FIRST HOUR (Philippians 1:21& 3:21, Proverbs 14:32, I Corinthians 15:12-16, 35-58 ) In death the righteous have refuge, The departed have no pain, The upright find peace and rest; To die, therefore, is gain. An end to an earthly finish, Is also a heavenly start. A family of saints await, As our earthly kin we depart. A perfect and glorious body, Will replace the one on earth. From the travail and labor of death, We're delivered in a heavenly birth. So, oh, Death, where is thy sting? Oh, Death, where is thy power? Jesus has swallowed it up forever; There begins heaven's first hour. Becky Wall

Easter morning rolled around, And I was half asleep, Unconcerned what day it was, 'Til something made me weep. The crucifixion story, Came to life that day. I witnessed in my mind's eye, The price Christ had to pay. They laid Him down upon a cross, His clothes already stripped, A crown of thorns upon His head, And stripes where He was whipped. And then I heard an awful sound, Along with Mary's wails. The sound that changed my life, Was the pounding of the nails. Church means so much more to me, For when I miss, I find, The pounding of the nails, Echoes through my mind. Becky Overturf Wall

THE OVERTURF FAMILY'S  EASTER DAY CAR WRECK   I want to begin with a short excerpt from my view of the family history and finish up with another excerpt. The two eventually tie together and show how God has worked in my family’s life. I probably ought to mention that I came from a family of 10. Two of our siblings (We call them brother and sister) are really our cousins (one now deceased). Mom and Dad took them in and raised them when their mother committed suicide and their father abandoned them. All eight of us kids were only 11 years apart in age. Those already born were 6, 5 and 2 (twins) when our two cousins, 5 and 6 (?), came to live with us. We lived in a three-room house. The family would grow by two more. Naturally we made several moves seeking a big enough home. We “big” kids would take walking trips around the town of West Frankfort where we were living. We were very young and Mom was sometimes unaware of the places we were touring. And yet it was one of those trips th

I have lists all over my house. I have lists of things to remember; lists of places to go; lists of things to do; budget lists; lists for the IRS; lists of people, their addresses, and phone numbers; gift lists; lists, lists, lists. Though I have lists to help me remember errands I need to run, when I go to do those things, I discover I've either forgotten or lost the list. But there's one list I would do well to forget, and that's the record of wrongs I keep tucked away in a dark corner of my heart. Every time I get tired, depressed, or stressed out, I pull out that list. I remind myself how I've been wronged, then throw myself a pity party or go sit on the pity potty. And when I am all done, do I feel better? There is a country song with a line that goes, "Go ahead and feel bad if it makes you feel better." But I never do feel better. Why is that? If I store in my heart a "blacklist" of people who have wronged me, complete with details, it mak

TRAIN YOUR BRAIN, PRESERVE YOUR SANITY Training your brain is as important as training your body. I have to be very protective of my mind because Alzheimer’s runs in the family. So, I have put a lot of thought into how best to train my brain. The most important reason to train my brain is because it is in a constant battle between good and evil, and if I am going to win out over evil, my brain must remain in a state of constant training. The Bible has a lot to say about training your brain, and though the Bible cannot prevent a disease like Alzheimer’s, it can often prevent mental illness and help you get your brain back on track. Training your brain and the brains of your children can prevent death and disease. It will help you prosper, improve your relationships and, most importantly, God will delight in blessing you. I know it isn’t right to misquote Bible verses or use them out of context, but I have taken an Old Testament verse (Train a child in the way he should go, and when

The following story is true. Only the names, dates, and circumstances have been changed.                   In the beginning was Buck . And God saw that Buck was lonely, so he made a deep sleep fall over him--which wasn't too difficult. God took one of Buck's ribs and made him a mate, and what a beauty she was! Buck woke up and cried, "I've been robbed--I mean ribbed!"   Then he took one look at God’s new creation and said, "Whoa, man! Wo-man.   That's it. I'll call her ‘woman.’   What a piece of work God made out of the flesh of my flesh and bone of my bones.”   And this all came to pass on the eve of the first decade, the eve of the first century, and the eve of the first millennium, B.C., so Buck called her "Eve" and it stuck. Little did Buck know that the name Eve also means the "mother of many, the giver of life."        Now Buck and Eve were placed on the bank of a beautiful lake called the Lake of Egypt. There

     Many years ago I worked for a program that taught simple vocations to handicapped people -- people now known as having special needs. Most of the workers in the program had mental and physical handicaps. I felt so sorry for those people when I first started the job. "How unhappy they must be," I thought. However, I was to learn a lot about life from them. I left there with a completely different perspective.      The handicapped people I saw were no less happy than other people. They just had a different standard of happiness. They found it in the simple things of life--a touch, a smile, good company, good food, simple fun. In fact, they may be happier than the rest of us so-called "normal" people. The dispositions of those in the work program were what one would expect in any other setting, allowing for differences in personalities. They laughed and loved as much as anyone--probably more so. They were friendly, affectionate, and readily accepted people.