Come Sit By Me

He says to the snow,  ‘Fall on the earth,’    and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’ Job 37:6 It was November, 1950.....Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  My family, which consisted of mom, dad, and 5 children, still lived in the small, 3 room house in the little Southern Ohio town called Bainbridge.  No running water, heated with coal and wood, and cooked with the same. My oldest brother and his family had come for Thanksgiving Day and was to spend the entire weekend with us.  Their family consisted of my oldest brother, Eddie, his wife, Hazel and three children. All totaled there were 12 people in that small home. Looking back I can't remember how this was even possible. I do remember there were two mattresses on each of the two full sized beds.  A small daybed in one side of the kitchen where my one brother slept. He was the oldest of the five of us who still lived at home.  Mom would drag a  mattress off of each bed, find...

Do you, like me, get up each morning and think this very thing?  Most all of us do, I think. I want to share this today for those who are "HURTING IN ANY WAY!"  Years ago I wrote devotionals for a ministry in San Diego for people who suffer with invisible chronic illnesses. Although I wrote this several years ago and in the Winter time, I find it applies to me today in many ways. Maybe there is someone out there who might need to read this with me today.    WHAT SHALL I WEAR TODAY? “To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”   Is. 61:3 As I sit by my patio window and have my quiet time with the Lord, I look out at the bright sunshine glistening on the snow. It is beautiful, but so deceiving. The temperature is in the single digits. For some of you I am sure you would be glad for it to be this "warm." I am one of the blessed ones wh...

BEND IN THE ROAD It has been a while since I have felt up to posting on here. I won't even try to explain all that has been going on with me the last while. But I would like to share something that is on my heart at this time. It is a bit different from the  stories of my childhood. I hope you will bear with me, and read on. “I will turn the darkness into light before them, and make the rough places smooth.   Is. 42:16  Before I moved to my new Assisted Living home, I used to  sit each morning in my living room by the patio door for my time of devotion and prayer. Across the room hung picture over my couch which showed a smooth road lined with beautiful Fall colored trees.   At the end of the road shown in the picture was a bend.   I would sometimes   imagine how much my life has been like this picture.   For a long while I walked on the smooth road with ease, delighting in the glorious colors of God’s blessings and provisio...

Psalm 19:14 - “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” This is one of those times when I really need someone to "sit by me" in so many ways With this post I have moved from my childhood years to the present day - the date, April, 2019 .... a time when I have to make a move from living indepently to an assisted living facility.  Not easy for some to do, but I have found, at my age, the body decides when it is time to "do it's own thing" no matter what we think.  And, with the doctor also saying this change is necessary, I am willing to accept it as gracefully as possible!  While sorting through my belongings to decide "what to keep and what not to keep," one thing I find that helps me when I might tend to feel sorry for myself is to look at my refrigerator magnets.   Yes!   I said, “Refrigerator magnets!“   They  get my mind off of “me and things” and onto ...

Yes, this is really Alice.....author of Come Sit By Me blog. I have had some health issues lately, and some serious decisions to make, so have been a bit slow with my thoughts and writing. So, this being Sunday, I thought this might be a perfect time to share a devotional that was written by my daughter, Lisa a few years ago.  I hope you will be as blessed as I am as I remember this "precious" day, and how thankful and blessed her Dad and I were for her decision.  Much love Lisa! DID SOMEONE KNOCK? Revelation 3:20 (KJV)  “   Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Another beautiful day You have made, Lord!   Thank You for  the time you have so generously given me in my “too busy” life to take a walk and just be alone with You. I thank You and praise You! About fifteen minutes into my walk I pass a woods. This morning I seem to hear more...

“Consider how the lilies grow.   They do not labor or spin.   Yet, I tell you, that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”   Luke 12:27 “I’m looking over a four leaf clover, that I overlooked before…….”   Does anyone out there r emember that little song?   It had cute words, but I will be concentrating on the first line in what I am about to share. When just a child I remember how  each year when Spring arrived my Dad would plow a plot of ground to be used for growing vegetables.   Food to be used each day, but also to be canned and preserved for Winter.  How good it would all taste when the snow was flying! When Dad would plow this vegetable garden, he would also plow  a smaller plot for Mom to have a flower garden.   On special days, Sundays usually, when company might be coming, Mom and I would go to her flower garden to cut a bouquet of multi-colored flowers to use on the table, and othe...

CAUGHT IN A WHIRLWIND    “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”   II Cor. 4:9 After just having extremely severe storms the past few days, my thoughts go back to another time when my late husband and I were caught in such a storm while on our way to a college graduation in the next state over.  The day started out as a beautiful sunny Spring day.   The drive was to take about four hours.   Just about 10 miles from where we would be staying, and while driving on the interstate, the sky became more and more black. We knew we were going to run into a storm before we got to our motel.   But, what happened was not just an ordinary storm.   We hit a "wall" of rain, hail the size of golf balls that were hitting the car and splattering.   The wind was whipping things around in the air; leaves, sticks and who kn...