Stained Glass Pickup

BOOK SIGNINGS in Conroe, TX: If you are in the area today, Oct. 17th, I’ll be at Hastings Bookstore at 3:30 until 7:00 P.M. (Highway 105 West and I-45), tomorrow, October 18th at J& D Country Store 105 West across from Metcalf and First Bank of Conroe, 10:00-12:00 noon. Later in this month or next at Christian Source Bookstore.
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A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts is now available. They retail for $16.99 and make excellent gifts to families or friends . This book gently shares many facets of Jesus’ birth and life. Hardback, gift edition has full color interior, silver foiled snowflakes on cover, 160 pages, tips to simplify the holidays, stories to warm hearts and encourage families. Learn how to grow myrrh, get 10 scrumptious cookie recipes, meet Grandma “Jeanealogy,” discover why Nova Scotia sends the city of Boston a Christmas tree each year, read about the Nativity hunt and the Santa chair, and much, much more:

To order from me, contact me at writecat@consolidated.net or order from Leafwood Publishers, Abilene, TX

Also leave a comment here or email me to have name entered to win the October book give away. Your choice, The Stained Glass Pickup Devotional Book or A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts ~ Stories to Warm Your Heart and Tips to Simplify Your Holiday

Get other holiday tips at our blog:
http://scrapbookofchristmasfirsts.blogspot.com/

The Hinge
Presidential terms, from George Washington’s to George Bush’s, have been at the mercy of joke makers. In Paul F. Boller’s “Presidential Anecdotes,” he relates a story going around during Woodrow Wilson’s tenure after he drafted Fourteen Points, a basis for a peace treaty and the foundation of a League of Nations.

The story: When President Wilson walked the golden streets of heaven, he ran into Moses. Moses asked, “You are Mr. Wilson, are you not?”

Mr. Wilson replied, “I am.”
Moses said, “I am very sorry for you.”

“Why so?”

“Weren’t you Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, and didn’t you issue the Fourteen Points for settling the Great War?”

“I did,”

“Well, I’m very sorry for you because they have done such dreadful things to your Fourteen Points.”

“For the matter of that,” Wilson said, “I should advise you to return to earth and see what they have done to your Ten Commandments.”

Whether it’s a document drafted by man or guidelines given by the Almighty, humans will always test boundaries. We are frail beings capable of great good, but we also fail, and sometimes it’s a big fall. Some failures occur because we break the first few of God’s commandments. Found in Exodus 20, they instructed the Israelites to be single minded in their devotion to God.

God delivered them from slavery and said through Moses, “You shall have no other gods before me.” He also instructed them to show reverence by not misusing his name. This happens aplenty in America and across the world. Some sitcom writers seem to have limited creativity and stick the words, “Oh my G__” into every script. And text messaging has proliferated misuse, shortening the phrase to “OMG.”

Someone tested Jesus, wanting him to name the best of God’s laws, he reiterated that the greatest is to love God with all of the heart, mind, soul and strength and to love our neighbors the same way we love ourselves. He went on to say that all other good-living guidelines hinge off of those two.

If a cabinet door hinge is not on straight, the door will not close because of poor alignment. Citizens sometimes adore and pedestal elected officials, money, and selfish gain, making hinges crooked, and no doors will be righted until the proper steps are taken to repair the damages.

Yes, we could take another look at the Ten Commandments, especially the first few about revering God. A basic pivot of life is adoration for God and respecting his name. It’s a turning point on which the rest of life balances.

How is your hinge?