Hymn – “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine”

Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!  Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!  Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

chorus:

This is my story, this is my song,  Praising my Saviour all the day long;  This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Saviour all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,  Visions of rapture now burst on my sight:  Angels descending bring from above Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest,  I in my Saviour am happy and blest:  Watching and waiting, looking above,  Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

Fanny J. Crosby,  1820-1915

Mrs Joseph F. Knapp, 1839-1908

-posted by Tim A. Blankenship

Day Following Thanksgiving, Two thousand eleven

I got up much later than my usual time this morning; around 7 a.m.  That was probably due to being up later than my usual time, and going to bed at nearly 12:30 a.m.

It has not been a real busy day by no means.  I did go to Shell Knob to go to Meeks and see about getting a new latch for our storm door, and to fill the red car up with gas.  It was a pleasant and quiet drive; yet I did not get the door latch, because they did not have what I needed or wanted for the door.

The sun is shining, it is in the mid sixties.  I even have the windows open in the house to keep it a bit cooler in here.  It feels pretty good.  I can hear the creek rolling within its banks.  It too is a quite pleasant quietness, relaxation and sound

Tomorrow we have planned to replace my parents septic line.  That will be a really dirty task, but a necessary one to do.  My brother in law and myself, at least, will be doing it.

I am grateful and thankful – is there a difference in the two? – for the many blessings which God has given me.  That He has made it where I get to do some things that are not pleasant to do.

Listening as Flat Creek is rolling along.

-Tim

It is Thanksgiving Day

This is the first Thanksgiving since the start of this blog.  Just a note to myself and anyone else who might have an interest.

I am a person who endeavors to be thankful every day.  First of all thankful to our Creator who has given us all things for blessing us.  The air we breathe, the ground upon which we walk, the beating of our hearts; He gives us every beat.  At His own will and discretion He could take us to our eternal destiny.  Be thankful today of all days.

I am thankful for my family and friends as well.  The Creator has given them to me to love and enjoy and to learn from them as well; and I pray I can be as good a family member and friend they have been to me.  My wife is the gem, the jewel of my life.  She was a gift from the Creator for sure.

Just over a year ago in September, on the 21st of September, as a matter of fact my wife had a rare heart surgery for an anuerism of the aorta of her heart.  The surgery was a success; and she went for a annual exam yesterday with a CT scan and all looked good.  For that I am thankful.

I am thankful for the five children the LORD has given me as well.  They are all different in many ways, with very different personalities, and gifts.  For that I am thankful too.  I am thankful for my 12 grandchildren, and are they all so grand.  I am thankful too that we have two already with Jesus.

I am thankful for the family I grew up in; my mother and father, brother, sisters; aunts and uncles, cousins; and all my fore fathers.  Without them all I would not be who I am today.

I am thankful for so many things, and one last thing I want to let the world know is that I am thankful for our home and the land on which we live.  It is God’s gift to us.  I pray I will be a good steward of all the LORD has given me.

Thank YOU LORD.

Thankful on the banks of Flat Creek.

-Tim

Hymn – “God the Almighty One”

God the Almighty One

1.  God the almighty One! wisely ordaining Judgments unsearchable, famine and sword;  Over the tumult of war Thou art reigning:

Chorus:

Give to us peace in our time, O Lord! Amen.

2.  God the all merciful! earth hath forsaken Thy ways of blessedness, slighted Thy Word; Bid not Thy wrath in its terrors awaken:

Chorus.

3.  God the all righteous One!  man hath defied Thee; Yet to eternity standeth Thy Word;  Falsehood and wrong shall not tarry beside Thee:

Chorus.

Give us peace in our time, O Lord!  Amen.

A Russian Hymn

Henry F Chorley, 1808-1872

John Ellerton, 1826-1893

Alexis F. Lwoff, 1799-1870

-posted by Tim

Butch is Gone

It was August 25 when Little Girl came straggling back to our home after being gone for awhile with a cute smaller dog than herself.  He was a pup still growing, and had grown to be a larger dog than his own mother.  You see he was Little Girls pup, from her last litter I suppose.  There were things that went on between Little Girl and this little dog that just made me think she was his mama.

Things like, when he got to annoying her, she would gently, but very firmly grab him by the nose and put him on his side, never harming him.  He treated her with the respect of her dominance.  Even when he got bigger than her she was still dominant.

She had returned to wherever they had been previously, and brought him to our house and has never left here again.  I guess she adopted us quite well, and the pup did too.  We too, Madge and I, have become quite attached to the two of them, along with Archer, our tornado dog for Joplin, MO.

We decided to name the pup “Butch”, and that is what stuck.  He began responding to that name.  He mad me laugh.  All three of them have made me laugh more than I have laughed in a long time.  I laughed as Butch would come up to Archer and begin biting Archer on the legs, around his mouth, and Archer just tolerated it, with little friendly whines, growls, whimpers; what ever they were; then, Archer would just play holding Butch down; while Butch would wrestle himself free, and go back for more.

When I would call Butch to come he would come with a wagging tail, and you could tell he was happy, and wanted that attention.  He was always energetic, ready to go, until this past Sunday afternoon, when he was accidently run over and left crippled in his hind legs.  I gave him a couple of days to see if it could just be a bad bruise or something.  He would not eat or drink, and I could not stand to see him suffer any longer I put him down.

When I buried him I thanked the Lord for the privilege of His using Butch to make me laugh.  The last thing Butch did, even after his last breath, was wag his tail.

And I buried him near Flat Creek.

-Tim

Mount Vernon November

Our family got together today, at least most of us, at our son and his wife’s home in Mount Vernon, MO.  They invited us to a cook out, and with me doing the cooking on the grill.  That is enjoyable, and the food is usually very good.

James and Amber had us all to their home.  This is their new home, because their old one was destroyed in the May 22 tornado which hit and destroyed most of Joplin, MO.  God protected and blessed them, and continues to do so through this terrible tragedy.

All our family was there with the exception of Philip and his wife Sarah Joyce who live in Booneville, AR.  and Paul, our oldest daughter Charity’s husband.  It was a great time to get together.

The wind was blustery, and made things a bit cool at times, but we had an enjoyable day and afternoon.

We love you James and Amber, and all the rest of you too.  So proud of you all.

-Tim

Beautiful Morning

I stepped out the back door this morning into the crispy morning air with about 24 degrees.  As I was walking to the car I looked to the North, and up the creek, Flat Creek, and saw one of the most beautiful sights one could behold.

It was about 5:25 a.m., the moon was still high in the Western sky, full and bright.  You could see the moisture rising from the water, the “steam” if you will coming from the warmer water mixing with the cold morning air.  The moon also hitting the frost on the grass, and there was a glow in the air.

If it could have been photographed it would have been a wonder to behold.  Maybe it would not be so much to some people.  It certainly caught my attention.  The full moon shining brightly in the sky, the misty steam rising from the creek many yards away, the glisten of the frost on the grass, the stars shining miles, and miles and millions of miles into space;

No one could paint a picture so lovely, except our Creator.

Thank YOU Father for the beauty of today, and every day.

Flat Creek is rolling right on along.

-Tim

Little Girl [Mama]

I have written of the Little Girl and  how she came to our home.  Well, now she has six babies and she is a good mama.

She gave birth to these six puppies, originally seven, but one died, in the pen we have for the dogs.  She had moved them due to lack of shelter from the rain, and they were under our shed where we keep the riding lawn mower, some tools and dog food.

We received a lot of rain in the past two days and I guess it was starting to get a bit wet under the shed, so she had started moving them.  I was in my office, and heard this frantic barking, whining, howling from a dog.  I went outside, and headed in the direction and Little Girl came running toward me, then immediately turned back toward the shed.  When she got on the North end of it she got down looking underneath, and she tried to get underneath, but could not.  That was not where the puppies had been previously.

I went and got an old dog food bag, to kneel on and look under the shed; yes it was raining too; when I looked under the shed the dog whining; the puppy whining for mama;  I saw it had crawled to a spot mama could not get to.  I went and looked where the puppies had been, and there were none.  So I assumed she had moved them to another location.

To make a short story shorter I moved the ramp I had in front, on the South side of the shed, and Little Girl crawled underneath, retrieved her puppy, and then took it to a drier location.  I went down to the old barn to see where she had taken them, and I saw one lone puppy; so I knew I was close to the other four.

I had gone inside to get a flashlight to look underneath the shed to make sure she had them all; and while I was gone she took that last one to the barn.  She came back toward me a much happier mama.  Though it seemed she was looking for another one, and I thought of that one in the barn by its lonesome, and I went back to the barn, and found the other five now, and moved the lone one with the five, and all was well.

I never knew  how much adventure a dog could bring into one’s life.  We now have nine sources of adventure.  I hope only for a while longer, then, back to three.

Flat Creek rose yesterday, but it was still in the banks.  I cannot see it yet this morning, due to darkness, but I can step outside and hear it roaring and rolling along.

-Tim

Rain in November

When I awoke yesterday morning it was raining, and I got up, dressed and went and let the dogs out before it began to pour down.  This morning I awoke to thunder, about 2:45, got up, dressed and by the time I went to let the dogs out of the pen it was pouring.  I was practically soaked just stepping out the door.

I did have sense enough this morning to put my coat on which turns water a bit.  The front of my jeans was soaked by the time I returned to the house.  I am thankful it has been so warm of the mornings.  Yesterday morning I think it was 52 degrees, and this morning it was 58 degrees.  That is getting pretty near late Spring or early Summer, late Summer temps.

The dogs go and find shelter soon as I let them out I suppose.  I did not watch where they went, or where they go.

I think the weather is supposed to get cooler by tomorrow.  Hey!  That is the time of year we are in.  Let us not be surprised when it snows.  NO! NO! NO!  I don’t want snow.  It will come though.  At least somewhere it will come.

It is amazing as I look out my office window; the grass is still green, and looks really green with the rain fall.  Blessed be the name of the LORD who blesses us with all these benefits.

Flat Creek is rising from this rainfall.  I can see it better looking out the back window now.

-Tim

Lydia – My Grand daughter

Just this past Saturday afternoon our son and his wife came down with their kids.  The smallest one [Lydia] wanted to go and see the puppies, so I took her to go see the puppies.  They are no longer in the pen, due to a lack of shelter there; and one evening last week when it started raining Little Girl [Mama] moved them under the shed to keep the dry.  That is where they are still.

We went out there; and of course Little Girl was there seeming curious about what I was doing, yet so gentle, and good natured; not even growling but more like wanting attention, nestling up to me.  I got down on my knees, looked underneath the shed, and saw one of the puppies just out from the rest of them; so I took him out, and let Lydia hold him.  Mama is watching closely, yet gentile like.  After Lydia gets down on her knees to look underneath we put the puppy back, gently and start returning to the house.

On the way back to the house Lydia turns around, and looks upward to the sky in the  East, points and says to me, “What is that?”  I turn around to see, and it is the moon.  Not yet shining, because the sun is still up, yet there it is just hanging like our Creator intended it to.  So I tell her, “That is the moon.”  At that she says “Oh!” and continues toward the house.

Lydia is less than two years of age, but cute as she can be.  She even likes her grandpa.

I have several grand daughters.  Our oldest grandchild is a grand daughter.  The youngest grandchild is a grand daughter, but lives in Booneville, AR. so we do not get to see them too often.  They are all my sweet hearts, and I am very thankful for all of them.

It is raining as I am writing this morning.  It is great to live in the Ozarks of Southwest Missouri; especially on the banks of Flat Creek.

-Tim

Sunday Worship: “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross”

Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross

Jesus, keep me near the cross, There a precious fountain,  Free to all, a healing stream, Flows from Calvary’s mountain.

Near the cross, a trembling soul,  Love and mercy found me;  There the Bright and Morning Star  Shed His beams around me.

Near the cross!  O Lamb of God, Bring its scenes before me;  Help me walk from day to day  with its shadow o’er me.

Near the cross! I’ll watch and wait, Hoping, trusting ever,  Till I reach the golden strand,  Just beyond the river.

CHORUS:

In the cross, in the cross  Be my glory ever,  Till my raptur’d soul shall find  Rest beyond the river.  A-MEN.

 

by Fanny J. Crosby.  1820 – 1915   and William H. Doane,  1832 – 1915

-posted by Tim

November Twenty Eleven

That is right.  It is now November and several days into it as a matter of fact.  The month of Thanksgiving, though, my prayer is that we are thankful every day; not just one day a year.  To whom should we be thankful?  The Pilgrims who came to this country?  The Indians/Native Americans who aided the Pilgrims? or should we be thankful to the Creator who has given us all things to enjoy and blessed us immensely?

That last one, of course.

It is a great thing to get up every morning and know that the Lord GOD who has made all things, has also given me strength to arise from bed with a beating heart, air to breathe, and feet and legs on which to stand.  Thank YOU Lord for all these things and so much more.

November is also the month weather is iffy.  In the Ozarks of Southwest Missouri it is kind of like Forrest Gump’s phrase, “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get”.  The weather around here is like that box of chocolates.  Of course it is like that year round; but especially this time of year.  It can be cold one day, warm up that evening, and be cold again the next day with spitting snow, or ice; or maybe just the reverse.

I am thankful for the seasons around here; though, I do especially like Spring and Summer.  The best part about Winter is that from the first day of the Winter solstice the daylight hours begin to lengthen.  That means to me, that Spring is on the way.

Do not forget to set your clocks back one hour before you go to bed; unless you want to stay up until 2 a.m. and do it.  If you forget it will not be a big loss; you will be early the next morning for wherever you are going; and that hopefully will be to worship the Lord with other brothers and sisters in Christ.

By the way;  the puppies are growing, and they will be two weeks old tomorrow (November 06). From the banks of Flat Creek.

-Tim