Memorial Day

by Lillian Humphries

Memorial Day is next Monday, May 25th, 2015. How will you celebrate? Gather with family and friends for a picnic/cookout? Go to the beach or the lake? What memories can you pull from your memory file about Memorial Day?

When I was working and raising my two daughters, Memorial Day was a paid day off of work. A day I could sleep in. A day I could maybe catch up on some things around the house or finish a project.

I knew the real meaning of this special day. I would always stop and teach my children why we had a Memorial Day and to honor the men and women, who gave their lives for us and then go on with my plans. Maybe include a parade later in the evening. Who doesn’t love a parade?

The older you get the more you think about things. I think about things a lot, maybe sometimes too much. That can be another blog sometime. J During this upcoming weekend and the celebrations, I ask you to take a few minutes and ponder some thoughts.

Nothing is free in life. We live in the land of the “free and the brave” What is the “cost” for American freedom”?

• American Revolution: 25,000 lives lost
• War of 1812: 15,000 lives lost
• Civil War: 750,000 lives lost
• World War I : 116,516 lives lost
• World War II : 405,399 lives lost
• Vietnam War: 58,209 lives lost
• War on Terror: 6,717 lives lost

Most likely there is not one of us who has not been touched by one or more of these lost lives. These numbers do not include those who were wounded physically or mentally by the search for our freedom.

There is one more statistic I would like us all to consider.

One life was given on the cross of Mt. Calvary. God’s only son, Jesus died for all of us. Jesus died so we could be free from “sin” and spend our life in eternity.

So this weekend during your festivities, remember those that gave their lives for our country, but also remember Jesus who gave His life so you can be free from sin.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Find the map, find the map.

by Lillian Humphries

Every time I hear that phrase now I think of Dora the Explorer. If you have children or grandchildren you know what I am talking about. I love that little show. You know everything is going to be OK and Dora is going to get to her destination with help from the map and her friends. Too bad real life is not that way.
 
Real life doesn’t come with a road map and if it did I probably wouldn’t be able to read it. I always found reading maps a little difficult. I have trouble finding North and South, then you throw in East and West and I am lost. For some reason when I learned my North and South, North must have been in front of me, therefore everywhere I turn and face is north. Right? See my problem?

Think about this. If you were taking a trip from SC to California you wouldn’t get maps that would take you Massachusetts and New York and hope you could figure the rest out. You would look at a map of the United States and figure out which states you would go through and purchase the maps for each state you would encounter along the way. OK, I know you would just turn on your GPS now days.

God has a map for us. It is His divine spoken word – The Bible. Your Bible, the one next to your bed, on your coffee table or in the closet has a map for your life and shows you how to get to Heaven. There are a lot of places here on earth I would like to visit. God’s handy work is all around us and it is beautiful, majestic and breathtaking. More than these earthy wonders that I want to experience, I want to experience heaven. The beautiful home that He has built for us is waiting for you and me.

The road you take to get there is ready and waiting for you, but my friends you need to walk it. No one can walk it for you. It is a personal road map for each one of us. Some of us may crawl on the road, walk the road, or run the road; you get to decide how to move forward on the road.

God tells us exactly how to find that road, through His son, Jesus Christ.

• John 5:24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

What we must do to get on the road, hear His word, repent and be baptized.

• Acts 2:38 - Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

With these instructions from God we can follow the road toward heaven.

So turn on your – G.P.S. – God’s Positioning Service and open your Bible – hard cover or digital and find your way.