This is about a young lady that asked for a prayer and fasting, Esther.

I Will Stand

by Chuck Swindoll

Esther 4:12-16

When it comes to touching the heart, few things do it as well as a song or a story. We all know occasions where the right music combined with the right lyrics wooed us or someone we know back to God. Sometimes it is a song that our mother taught us, or some moving hymn we learned years ago in church. Nostalgia serves us best when it's a magnet, drawing our hearts back to God.

A story will do the same, softening the soil of our souls. When you have the right characters who carry out life's issues in a plot that is mixed with adventure, surprise, and some humor, along with purpose and an ultimate moral, there's something about that story that sweeps us into a right state of mind. Esther is just such a story. It has adventure and suspense mixed with courage and hope, plus a touch of humor and certainly a twist of surprise.

What a great film or play Esther would make. Can't you just hear the words of Mordecai ringing with passion as he says, "If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?"

And then, with incredilble courage, Esther herself replies, "Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish."

I can hear the applause as the curtain closes on this act with this grand speech that prepares our leading lady to take her place in history.

It reminds me of something C. S. Lewis said about the importance of being loyal to a cause that is greater than ourselves. He likened that quality to a person's chest. "What we need are people with chests." The old American word for this is "guts." We need people with guts who will say, "I will stand for this, and if I must die for it, then I die."

Will you be one of those people?

I know it is not Labor Day YET.

Okay so why did I say that it is not Labor Day yet? Well as our family loves to get together during holidays. This is my cousin Greg above here. He called me about three weeks ago and asked if we could get together over Labor Day week-end? I told him I was very sorry but I will be in the Bahamas on Labor Day. So he did some calls and asked the other members of our family what would work for them? So yesterday it pretty much worked out great for almost everyone. 

So on Sunday afternoon I drove over to Bonita's home and spent the night. we got up and drove over to Greg place during the afternoon. 

Got there and we sat around and just some what got caught up on things we are all dealing with. 

Okay time for dinner. Greg cooked and the girls got the rest of the food ready and we just chowed down. 

These to guys are trouble. Greg and Jon. Jon is my cousin in law. He is married to Debbie my cousin. These guys each week get together and shoot pool an just hang out. 

Left to right, Josh Greg, Debbie (eyes closed) Jon (behind her), Bonita and Amy. Okay, Josh is one of Amy sons. Bonita is my cousin that lives in Winter Haven. So as thing where winding down. We got one picture together and said our good byes. Josh and Amy live  about three miles away form Greg's home. Debbie and Jon live about 7 miles away. Bonita is 70 miles away and I am the lone star at  170 miles away. We did't get back to Bonita's home until after 10 pm. So I took a shower and bed time for me. I got up at 5 and left and it takes me just about two (2) hours to get back to my home here in Fort Pierce. 

I am very blessed to call these folks my family and very proud of them too. 

As we all are growing a little older each year. I will promise to do my best to see them ad least twice a year or more. 

When I get back form the Bahamas I have a couple of job offers over here. That right, my family have some work projects for me to do. Maybe tiling and redoing two bathrooms. Plus a kitchen. 

We will see what happens? 

I drove over to Winter Haven yesterday.

You can see looking south it really looks like there is something happening down there. I am driving west. Thinking I better start out before this rain makes it this way. 

I am driving along Route 60. It was beautiful all the way. I think there was four (4) rain drops that hit my windshield. 

Then this morning it looks great again. Bonita and I will be heading out around 11 am to go to Tampa. We are having a little reunion at my cousin's home in Largo. (Greg)

As I look at the weather channel on my phone, rain is supposes to happening around 2 pm. They are saying thunderstorms tonight. So we will see what happens. 

As I was out riding a couple of days ago.

This is called Habitat For Humanity. This one is in Fort Pierce. There is another one in Vero Beach. That one is all inside and air is running. This is the same kind of stores that we have down south, in Fort Lauderdale. If you go back you can see I bought my toilet there. 

This one is some what set up like another place down there, Faith Farm. Very open and no air conditioning. But they sure have some stuff. 

PLUS golf clubs. 

It really is some fun to just stop in and look around and see what they have. As for now I am in good shape on needing anything. Maybe next time. 

Because of the storm possibility, they have been asking us to vote early.

I just love to see things and remember all that happen here. Back in 2004? When Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne made land fall here in this area. pretty much Hutchinson Island. 

As I am riding by thinking, wow this is where I had a chance to work along side a group of people, (Hope something?) that did hurricane relief supplies. They had their own tracker trailers and other trailers with supplies. I went on line to see if I could find them. I guess they are no longer doing that? 

During that year I had a chance to help out at a couple of hurricane areas that were hit. Charley on the west coast. Work with these same folks. That is where I meet them. Then Frances and Jeanne. Both here at this park.  

I drove one of our buses up here with our football team from CCA. We handed out water and bags of ice and what ever else was available to give away. 

Then during Jeanne I drove up here again and did the same. Handing out supplies. Plus I remember staying at a young couple's home during one of the nights. 

But look at the generator lights, they are ready for another storm possibility. 

This is the main office for the county for the voters registration. So here they are doing early voting. 

Walking in you can see one guy sitting there. he is the security for this place. I think he was sleeping when I walked in? 

Then I had a chance to see this other gentleman. Very friendly and warm. Said see the young ladies on your left as you walk in. I didn't need to go to the polling booths. I filled out my ballet and just dropped it off in the box. Hey I almost forgot to get my little voters sticker.  

It really was a beautiful day to ride an just enjoying it. 

Remember we all need to vote and let us see who our LORD wants to be in charge. 

Romans 13. 

What can I do on a Thursday morning?

Well on this day only, you can get a hot dog with the works for $1.00. that is correct. At Sonic they were running a special. 

How can you go wrong? 

Then I came up to this beauty. That is correct, 1965 Mustang. She is beautiful. Millage is 54,000. I looked it over and really didn't see any problems. Not sure on the paint. I didn't open the hood. But I did go in and asked what was the price? The guy there told me that it is from this area. A doctor that has a office in Vero Beach has owned it. He told me too that he is asking $29,000. WOW. She is sure pretty enough. But not in my budget at this time. 

Riding along and look what I found? It really is funny how many things I find along my rides. I guess the guys just leave their tools on the back of the truck and hit a bump. There it goes. I thought this would be nice for any more tile work? But it seemed to be a little bigger than my bag. So I put it on the side of the road. maybe next time I ride by, I will see if it is still there. 

Okay as I kept riding along. I watch where the clouds are and maybe not this time. Right as I took this picture it started sprinkling. I turned around and started heading home again. 

I just love being able to stop at a Dollar Tree and get a drink. 

I drank this down and now I am ready to keep on riding. Hey I always have water plus extra bottle in my small bag. But it is very refreshing to get a cold one and just enjoy the different flavor. Plus it has Vitamin C. PLUS some sugar too. 

Now this is after I tore it off. It didn't look this bad. But the horn was missing the foam. 

Stopped by K Mart and just for the fun of it. Thinking my bike seat is some what shot. Okay walked in and found them there on sale. That correct. SALE. Regular price of $17.99. on sale for $9.17. Wow can not pass this up. 

Okay it is starting to look like I am riding into a bunch of rain. 

Peddling along pretty fast. I am getting my back wet now. I kept on riding. Got home and I was soaked. It really was refreshing. 

I am very blessed and excited to be able to just get on my bike and ride anywhere I want to. 

The Lord has blessed me with the ability to enjoy it and not have that fear of traffic and what ever there is out there. Plus since I got these new tires. I have not had a flat for over 6 months. 

Praise Him. 

Well looking around the world these days, it is scary.

Folks I was watching the news this morning and seeing all the stuff that has been happening around the world. 

In Italy the earthquake.

The possible hurricane coming our way. 

Please say a couple of prayers for the people in Italy and the storms coming our way, plus Bahamas will get hit first.

I still look and say wow each day. But as my devotion spoke of today. Jeremiah 29:11. 

I know He is still under control and what if happens. I know I will see HIM first. 

Praise today and don't worry. Remember what worry does? Just take away your JOY. 

This is one of my neighbors.

As I was helping out a neighbor, her cat came out and greeted me. I just looked at her and said, wow you are beautiful.As I was sharing this with another friend. She was asking me if I never seen a ugly cat? I guess most of the time. Not. But this one was so friendly and just really pretty. 

You can tell I am running out of things to talk about. Maybe I need to get a life? 

Jesus Comes To You In Your Storm. Thank you Betty

“About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water” Mark 6:48b NLT(2nd edition).

In Mark 6, Jesus sent the disciples ahead of him to Bethsaida while he went off by himself to pray. It wasn’t a long trip by boat, but they were blown off course by a storm, and when Jesus saw them struggling against the wind in the middle of the lake, he came to their aid.
Have you ever had a storm blow you off course? You had no intention of being where you are today in your job, your marriage, your finances. You’ve been blown off course by situations you couldn’t control. You feel like you should be where you intended to go there by now, but at this point, you’ve given up hope of getting to your original destination. You just want to get back to safety.
Maybe you had big dreams for your life that you gave up on a long time ago. You’re not even worried about progress anymore. You’re just wondering, “Can I survive?”
What does Jesus do when you’re at your moment of desperation? Mark 6:48 says, “About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water” (NLT, 2nd edition). Notice he didn’t tell the disciples to come to him. He knew they couldn’t get to him. He went to them. When you’re at that point of desperation, comes to you!
I love the fact that Jesus did not stand on the shore and shout instructions. When you’re in a storm, you don’t need advice. You need a miracle! You need somebody to show up, and this is what Jesus did. He intervened in the disciples’ storm.
This is the Gospel — that God doesn’t stand on the shoreline telling us what to do. He comes out and meets us in our pain, our fear, our depression, our storm, and our discouragement. He comes to us.
What a God!
You may feel abandoned right now, but you’re not. The Bible says in John 14:18, “I will not abandon you or leave you as orphans in the storm — I will come to you” (TLB). You can count on it!
Talk It Over:
– What dream have you given up on because you didn’t see any progress? What do you think God can do about it?
– Think of a time in your life when you felt desperate. How did God intervene for you?
– Who in your life needs God to intervene in a desperate situation? How can you pray for and support that person?
By Rick Warren

That's right Sunday has come and gone again.

I stopped at Walmart and saw this. Wow winter is on it ways. Maybe not winter, but Thanksgiving. 

On the way home and stopped at a yard sale going on in the neighborhood next to ours. I really did find a couple of nice items. The Mickey Mantle Books and National Baseball Hall Of Fame and Museum books. They will go good with my Baseball room. 

I got these for $2.00.

A friend of mine was telling me about coconut flakes. I use to eat them all the time in the Bahamas. It was a cheap treat. So I bought some and boy they are messy. 

The small vacuum was $5.00. 

It even works. I am very blessed to just be able to enjoy my Sundays as a Sabbath. I started reading the Mickey Mantle book. It is so nice to relax and just sit. 

This is so nice to be able to do.

That is correct, I am at home in my driveway. I needed new brakes. You can see I kinda pushed them a little more than I should have. The rotor is a little damaged. So I drove over to Advance on Thursday afternoon. Got the new pads. Even drove to Walmart. I went there for 5 quarts of oil and a oil filter. That only cost me $20. for the oil and filter. As I was on line to find the brake pads, I checked out Advance for the oil. They are selling the same oil for $29.99 and the filter was $3.99. Thinking it has to be cheaper at Walmart. 

Like I said, I should have checked these about 500 miles ago, maybe even sooner. I did hear the medal to medal while driving over to pick up my cousin. She even said, sound like you need brakes? 

Okay did the brakes and oil change and even washed the truck. It really does feel good to be able to do your own work and think about the money I saved. Now as I get older, not sure how many more years I will be able to do this kind of work. But as long as I can. 

It really is kinda of sad, when I was making some good money, I said I will pay someone to do this work. After living in the Bahamas, you do what you can. 

I am very blessed to call my place a home, plus be able to do work on my truck. 

I had a chance to hangout with some of boys from our community.

Okay we all piled into Billy's car and took a drive. We ended up at a place called The Treasure Coast. It is a mom and pop restaurant. It was time for breakfast. So as we sat around talking and just getting to know these guys. 

Roy is on the left, (my neighbor) then going around to the right, Donny,Billy and Bobby. Now Donny is the golf ranger on our course. Then the other three are really brothers. They are all retired and love to hang out and play golf. Roy invited me and it was some what fun. Maybe down the road I might even pick up a golf club and go out with these guys? 

As I was waking towards Walmart I saw this beautiful truck. It is a Chevy, but still is pretty. I really like the looks of the older Fords myself. But he did a good job on it. I would not mine driving around in something like that.