You CAN count on it & 1 0f 12 commandments

Friday, October 31

Count On It (by Dr. David Jeremiah)

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
John 14:3

Recommended Reading
Revelation 19:11-16

When you read or watch The Chronicles of Narnia or The Lord of the Rings, you know that what you're watching isn't reality- that it's fiction created to entertain and to convey a message. Unfortunately, too many people - even Christians - view prophecies about the future that way.

Think about it: Millions of Christians being removed from planet earth instantly; a one-world ruler gaining power before being assassinated and coming back to life; cataclysmic natural events in the heavens and on earth; Jesus Christ appearing on a white horse in the sky, accompanied by millions of saints and angels - sometimes people view these happenings like science fiction: They've never happened before, so it's unlikely they'll happen in the future. But you have to ask whether your doubts can stand up against the words of Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul. They both said, in essence, "Count on it. The future of the world is as certain as the past."

If you are not confident that your doubts are stronger than Jesus' and Paul's declarations, consider recommitting yourself to the trustworthiness of Scripture.

God promises to keep His people, and He will keep His promises. Charles Spurgeon

Thanks to Wendy Fury, I will be posting the Twelve Commandments... one each day. The pictures are adorable and the "commandments" are good. Today: I've made up my mind to be happy; it's a choice I make. It's payday Friday here and I love the simple task of passing out checks and greeting the people with a smile and a kind word (and candy today). If you missed "More from Wednesday's Wanderings in SE Kansas" <<==just click on the title here.

Please pray for Abby

Please pray for Abby Riggs. I received this email from her daddy, Brent, this morning:

"LaVon,
Abby woke up today with bruises and little blood "dots" all over her.

She had to go back in the hospital where her condition has worsened with fever and other symptoms.

We continue to covet your prayers for her, and for us to stay healthy and strong as a family.

More about Abby on the family blog, if you want: RiggsFamilyBlog "

I have also added a "Pray for Abby" picture with link in the menu, top right.

Thank you for your prayers for this dear and precious little girl.

Sunday's Coming

Since it was late, late when I went to bed last night (this morning), it was later when I got up.  Don took advantage of the quiet and sent out his Sunday's Coming.  ==>>Go there now and be blessed.<<==

Wednesday wandering in SE KS

Don's excuse today:  We need to go to Wal-Mart to get a printer cartridge.  Obee-kaybee.  That's fine with me... when he says "go," I'm in the truck... well, mentally, I'm in the truck.  It takes my body a little time to catch up with my mind.  Usually, Don is waiting outside with his key ready to lock the 5'er door and open my truck door.  He's such a gentleman.  Did I ever tell you that?  He really is such a gentle man.

He also mentioned something about going to Independence, KS to see if there were more fall foliage over there or on the way there.

On the way out of Coffeyville, I took these pictures of the one million square foot Amazon.com super distribution center where all the workampers in our park are working.

As we got to Indy, I noticed this bridge.  My goodness, it looks just like the one in Coffeyville... the 3-arch concrete bridge built in 1926. over the same river, Verdigris.  They could be twins. (Look at that blue sky!  It's a beautiful day to be out.)  Right away, I saw a tree of color, but we went past too fast, so my sweet husband made the block to come back to it.  On this block was this huge 3-story house.Here's the backside of the 3-story house.  It has a balcony on the 3rd floor!The tree that I wanted a picture of.  The sun is in front of me, so the red of this tree doesn't show up as well as it was... just glowing.  But even on the shaded side, you can see the color.I absolutely can not get enough of these houses.  What an amazing architectural style. Independence was home to many families made wealthy by the oil and gas boom of the turn-of-the-century and many of the homes reflect the affluence.This is a tree!!!Breathtaking. Can you imagine this in another week? Remember, we are in Independence, Kansas. Like Coffeyville, there's a church building on every corner. Can you believe, this is the same library today.....  ......built in 1907.  

I wonder if this house was originally painted purple?  I kind of doubt it.  KSU fans must live here.   Wow! Another church. In the Riverside Park.Could this be the same truck as .... this?  Naw. Maybe this.. look, it is the same house in both pictures... this one taken in 1910. 

The llama family was about the only animals we saw driving by the Ralph Mitchell Zoo.  Isn't this baby cute?  Wonder what you call a baby llama... Google..  a CRIA. This quiet, secluded area in the zoo caught our eye. A plaque under the open book with the Ten Commandments on the left and John 3:16 on the right, states this area was donated by the Independence Ministerial Alliance in 1966. I think this is the largest cemetery I've ever seen, not counting Arlington Memorial in D.C.  This one is about two blocks wide and goes on for blocks and blocks along Penn Ave. This wall goes all around it.  I took this picture for the tree, of course. This barn is part of a huge estate on the east side of Independence. This is part of the house on this estate.  We were actually on a street that said "Private Drive" at the entrance, but there wasn't anywhere to turn around.  Back up? Well, that's Independence, Kansas.  Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.  We went from Indy to Neodesha (pronounced Neo-duh-shay), from there to Parsons, from Parsons, to Altamont and then back to Coffeyville.  It's 2:35 AM... will post the rest of today ... tomorrow. 

~~~~~~~

I would rather live my life as if there is a God,

and die to find out there isn't,

than live my life as if there isn't,

and die to find out there is.

More from Wednesday's Wanderings in SE Kansas

We left the estate on the private drive :-) and headed toward Neodesha.  These are scenes along the way that caught my eye.  You know I have a thing about bodies of water, regardless of how large or small. While Don was getting gas ($2.29.9/gal), I saw this little diner across the street:  Miss Emma's Diner.  That being my DGD's name, I couldn't resist taking a picture.Also, I might add that her great uncle on her daddy's side, lives in Neodesha.  However, this isn't his house.  He lives is a nice cottage a couple of streets over.  We drove by, and it never occurred to me to take a picture.  Uncle Bill was working, so he wasn't at home.  Look at that porch!  And that cute little balcony on the second floor... a perfect spot to read my Bible and pray on a early summer morning.  Might need a quilt on a day like today. Back to reality... as we headed out of Neodesha, we saw this, which probably had something to do with an oil well at some time in the past.  We're headed for Parsons now. You have to read this!  Gave me the creeps. I think I've seen a movie about this. Uh, Parsons, Disney World called and they want this building back. (It's being used as a church.) On the road from Parsons to Altamont, Kansas. This is about the only thing worth photographing in Altamont. On the way from Altamont to Coffeyville (Don kept ignoring Gabbie Gertie, our GPS, and kept turning south), we saw this RV park in the distance so we drove in and looked around.  There are eight full-hook-up sites here and all eight are workampers at Amazon.com.  They drive 25+/- miles one way to work, but they love it here.  We now understand why.  So quiet and peaceful. (I'm holding the camera out and over the top of the cab to take this picture. Interesting angle, uh?) It even has it's own lake visible right out the back window of all the RV'ers and only about a fifty yard walk away. On down the road... I don't think this barn was always so "air conditioned."  Can you tell, I love the country?
   We thoroughly enjoyed our day of seeing the area around Southeast Kansas, where we are.  I wouldn't want to live here, unless someone wanted to give me one of those beautiful three-story turn-of-the-century houses and then I would suddenly be in the Bed & Breakfast business. :-)  We could designate one room as the "sanctuary" and have church on Sunday morning and Bible Study every night, if we wanted to. 

Snap out of it, LaVon.  You're back 'home' and this is reality. ===V===  WE LOVE IT!

Terrific Tuesday in Coffeyville

About noon time today, Don was bored and wanted to go somewhere.  He was also hungry and since it's very chilly here, Mexican food sounded yummy.  We stopped at El Pueblitos (the small towns) and are delighted to report we have found another really fine restaurant.  Reasonable, too.  Didn't get lunch for $3.99/each like we did yesterday at the Chinese place, East Gourmet, but it was reasonable.  This huge mural was on the wall close to our table.  Sad. Coming in the front door, you see this painted on the wall.  Want to save money?  Just eliminate the picture frames and glass and paint directly on the wall.  My grandson, Camden, thinks that's a 'marvee' idea. As we drove around, we noticed that the trees are really beginning to turn colors, especially after the freeze this morning.  This was beautiful.

Vickie, this is 509 Willow Street.  Does it look like you remember it? This is also on Willow Street about a block away.I told Don that I want to spend a day taking pictures of all the churches in this town.  There's one on every corner and a few in between.  This is the First Presbyterian Church, also on the corner of Willow Street and {squint... I can't read that street sign.}Evidence of Autumn. This tree was a really pretty purplish red (that is too a color, probably correctly called magenta or something like that), but the sun was so bright, it lost some of its brilliance in the picture.  OK, so I'm not a professional photographer!You can see this tree is just beginning to turn colors.  These trees are in the part of town that flooded in 2007... that's why you don't see any houses in these pictures. I didn't realize this was going to be such a good autumn subject (barn, hay bales, dead tree) until I saw the picture.  I was actually focused on the dead tree (shocker).  This is just across the street from our 5'er, so I'm going back in a bit to get a better picture.Here's an empty building with great potential to be a Cowboy Church.  It's in excellent condition.. almost looks new.Yes! There it is and it's truly dead.  There are no leaves lying on the ground around it.I've been wondering what was on down the road that goes past our RV out into the country side. Here's a close up of a three-arch concrete bridge built in 1926 over the Verdigris River, which flooded in June, 2007.  "1926" is etched right in the top of the cross piece, but of course, you can't see it in the picture.  I didn't see it as I was taking the picture, but Don saw it.The Verdigris River under the concrete bridge.  Doesn't look much like a flood threat, does it?Not surprising to see levees built up on the town side of the river.And we're back at the campground in time for mail time.

       

~~~Promise of God~~~

God has promised His people (those who have a personal relationship with Him) eternal life.

John 10:27-29

27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me,

29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004