I wish that all of you were as full of joy as I am. It is truly the peace that passeth all understanding! Philippians 4:7...[King James version] And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

We had another great weekend. Students came in, and gave free massages yesterday, and stayed from 2pm until 7 pm. Let me tell you, I think every one who was here got the treatment!

As I said before, this resort has about 1,000 members and most of them live in Louisiana. So they have to call ahead for reservations. The only people who live here is the staff and a few who lease. The leasing has stopped as the membership is growing so fast. There is one other group, the snow birds and they will be arriving after the first of October. A few bring their golf clubs. I'm not a golfer but sometimes I can see the players, at the miniature course, from my site.

I would like to walk more but it has been too hot so I have to use the golf cart to go back and forth. I do swim in the indoor pool.

Go with God.

The sun is shining through the Dollar trees, that border the east side of the resort and grow along the outside of the duck pound. Speaking of ducks, the little ones that I wrote about on a previous post, are now grown up and they are as beautiful as they where when they were duckings. Most of them are still black and white, black on their rears and have some black on their backs but the rest of their bodies are white. They are tame as a lot of the members feed them. There is also an animal pen, that the children love. Right now there are three goats, a parrot named Dexter and several chickens living there. The chickens only go in there to be feed and roost for the night. Rabbits use to live in there but the owner turned them loose, so they roam all over the resort, along with the chickens.

I just got word that are winter camp host, S G, was just diagnosed with lung cancer. Please hold him up in prayer.

I have traveled a great deal in my life. God has greatly blessed me and my family. But when I was a teenager I had a wanderlust heart and so I was lucky to be able to satisfy it, after my children grew up. I have been reluctant to put any of my poems on here, as I plan to publish them in a book one day, but for some reason I wanted to post one that I wrote when I was about fourteen. I was gazing out the window of my study hall and this poem came to me.

OH TO BE A BIRD

Oh to be a bird
And fly or'e ocean deep,
Far across the praire land
And up the mountain, steep.

Oh to be a bird
And fly or'e hill and dale,
Up through the big blue mist
And or'e the clouds asail.

Oh to be a bird.
If mortals could but grow,
Wings that spread out wide
And soar where er'e they go!

Thank you God for allowing me to travel!

Luke 11:9...[King James] And I say to you, Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

My God bless you all!

Good afternoon,

A lady, who lives in the park, had a birthday yesterday. As I make most of the cards for the park and all of our personal cards, I made one for her and took it around to have everyone else sign it. Last evening, the members brought lots of food and we had a big party. The birthday lady was very surprised so it was a bang-up success! They had planned to play po-ke-no. I am not a po-ke-no fan and I usually don't play it but Bob and I filled in for two of them who were running late. We did have lots of fun.

Isaiah 61:11...'As a garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness...to spring forth.' The Bible says things that are sown, so as Christians we have to sow seeds in ourselves by reading the Bible, fellowship with other believers and other activities that can help us grow spiritually.

God bless you all.

Well we have had a beautiful day, no rain so far.

Greetings from Hideaway Ponds. I think we are going to get some rain today.

Yesterday after our chapel service, I did the Bible Story Lady. I use music, puppets, that I had crocheted and a video. The children color while they watch a Bible story. Yesterday the story was Noah's Ark.

At three p.m. Bob and I went to the ice cream social, in the club-house. They serve two huge scoops of vanilla ice cream and there is a large assortment of toppings, for $1.50. We have to get tickets from the office but if we buy 5 tickets, we get them for $6.50, a $1.50 saving. My favorite toppings are caramel and chopped nuts. Bob always goes for chocolate. Some us started playing cards, after we ate our ice cream. There were four players in our group. About 8 p.m. Bob quit and left. Then 3 more of our friends joined us, so then there were 6 of us and we played until 9:30. My partener and I didn't win...but there is always next time...besides we had a lot of fun.

I know that sometimes we as Chistians have miraculous answers to prayer. I have had instant healings and rarely do I have trouble sleeping but sometimes when I have and I have asked God for help, most of the time I barely finish the prayer and I go to sleep. However, God doesn't always take our pain or problem away because according the apostle Paul, he himself had what he called a 'thorn in his side'. He asked God to remove the 'thorn' but the Lord told him in 2 Corinthains 12:9..."My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."
Paul said that the 'thorn' kept him humble.

Blessings

It rained a short time last evening and today the sun is shining. Hideway Ponds is a membership resort and most of the members live in Louisiana. Today three couples, who are our friends, are coming in for the weekend. There isn't a band scheduled for Saturday night, in the club-house, so folks will be wining, dining, card playing and/or just having fun. By Saturday afternoon, the park will be nearly full and it has 101 camp sites.

As Christians we need to remember that God is all powerful. Jeremiah 32:27 "Behold I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything to hard for me?"

Good afternoon to all of you. It's one of those beautiful days at Hideaway Ponds. As I look out my window, I can see two of the cabins that are used by visitors. They are cute little structures that are a copy of the cabins that the swamp people use to live in, of yesteryear but with modern conveniences. Those early Cajuns, were a hardly breed, living off the land. Most of the men were trappers.

For some reason I got to thinking about forgiveness and how hard that is, sometimes. Someone will hurt us badly, maybe someone we love and the wound cuts us deeply. In my case I learned that I had to talk to the person and 'get it off my chest', then forgiveness came easy. Other times I forgave without confrontation. However it works, forgiveness is necessary for us as Christians, and no-Christians alike, to have peace of mind. Matthew 6:14-15 "If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But is you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

Greetings from Bob and I to all of you.

Tomorrow I go to the Big Worm Books in Thibodaux for a book signing. Sometimes I bring my own books and this is one of those times.

We had shrimp for lunch today. A dear friend, gave us shrimp and oysters. We had visited his wife several times when she was in the hospital. Anyway not being a native born Louisianan, I asked another dear friend, who had at one time a catering service, how to boil the shrimp. She said to boil them for 3 minutes and then to let them set in the hot water for 20 minutes. I want to say they were superb. My smart friend gets the glory, not me.

This instruction from Jesus is sometimes very hard to do. I tell the children, who come to the Bible Story Lady that we are to love everyone but not to trust everyone. Here is what Jesus said: Luke 6:27&28 "But I say unto you that hear, love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them who despitefully use you."

Blessings

Hello from Hideaway Ponds. Yesterday we visited one of the park members who had a stroke in January. She has gradually improved. She is a dear friend and we are anxious to have her come back to the park.

It is another one of those gorgeous days here in southern Louisiana.

Here is a thought for today from Psalms 34:13, King James version. Keep your tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

God bless each and everyone of you.

Good morning from this beautiful, Hideaway Ponds, resort park. Bob and I live in a truely luxurious place, shaded by giant oaks. We can take a leisurely swim in the indoor heated pool, soak in the hot tub, dip in the beautiful outdoor pool or just bask in the sun. Others go fishing in the ponds that border the eastern and southern periphery. Last evening we played cards in the clubhouse with our friends. It is definitely a retiree's dream, come true.

Here is scripture from the old testament. Moses had led the Jewish nation, God's chosen people, out of slavery and toward the Promised Land. He gave Moses the ten commandments on Mount Sinai. This is 4th commandment in Deuteronomy 5:11, from the NIV: You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. And in the 6th chapter and the 5th verse it reads: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Blessings to you all

Good afternoon from southern Louisiana. The sun is shining and it is hot! "Thank you God for the sunshine, so the ground can bring forth it's bounty!"

This is what Jesus said in John 8:12, King James version. "I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." The NIV version goes like this: When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Blessings to you all.