Father's Day Blessing

                Men want recognition and respect. Here’s mine for you.

Being a good father was always a hard job.
And if you did all the things the Bible said you should do, it was even harder. God always asks us to do impossible things.
And for good reason; so we’ll find out what our human limitations are.
This is so that we will relinquish control over our lives to Him, and let Him be our Savior and Boss.
Being a man has lots of advantages, but even those advantages might slow us down from humbling ourselves to come to God.
Best deal is to take it like a man.
God wants to be that Perfect Father that you never had. He wants to take you to Heaven for Eternity.
What’s so hard about that?
Well, for one thing, there’s this humility stuff,
Then asking forgiveness and expressing love,
It’s not exactly every man’s vocabulary, but, it’s worth it.

Here’s to all the men who are fathers,
Do the right thing. You can trust God to give you the straight scoop.
I appreciate you and your many good qualities
so this is not like criticism,
just a reminder that Departure Day is coming for all of us, and there’s a choice to be made.
Already know Jesus? Good for you.

          HAPPY FATHER’S DAY and many more happy days, besides. 

by Elaine Hardt ©2000

Smile at Someone?

Here’s something that doesn’t cost you any money, doesn’t take up any of your time, doesn’t need to be planned ahead in your Daily Plan Book. 

The best part is what it does for you.  It helps improve your awareness.  It gives your busy mind a happy break from the stress of your day.  And, at the end of your day it gives you a pleasant memory, (which is good exercise for your brain.)

So, what is this marvelous, magical, mysterious event that doesn’t even use your muscles or your speech either?  It’s a simple smile.  

At the grocery store: smile at that old gent who is riding on one of those “electric chairs” as he’s up and down the aisles shopping.  At the bank: smile at the teller who is counting out some $20 bills for your check.  That acknowledges that she’s doing an OK job for you.

At the mall:  smile at the half a dozen people you pass.  Probably each one will glance your way without smiling.  But you are the kind-hearted person who smiles at them, though they don’t deserve any attention from a stranger.

Walking out to the mailbox across the street smile at the young boy on his bike who’s no doubt on his way home from school.  That acknowledges that even at his young age he’s noticed by a grown-up person such as you.  He might even smile back. 

What different kinds of smiles come to mind?  When the kids in fifth grade were asked this question their answers ranged from “pleasant” and “friendly” to “uppity,” to “silly,” and “amused.” Take a look in the mirror and see what kind of smile you’d give to a stranger on the bus or in a store.

Kind of fun to think about it; see what bright ideas you come up with.  See if you can smile at somebody today.   + + + 

by Elaine Hardt ©2017

Finding Out More

For the newlyweds Guy’s idea was to ask each of the nearest relatives to contribute a Bible verse so he could type it all up as a booklet with a verse a day for a month. Everyone chipped right in and soon the booklet went out to the family and to the bride and groom.  

For the first couple of months it was an interesting “chore” to read the daily verse, see who had sent it in, and give it some thought.  

Guy was curious to see what that daily Bible verse word of instruction or encouragement meant to some of the family. He’d ask Zack first, the oldest brother of the family.  He sent a message over via social media and got a brief report back.  Obviously, Zack was too busy to mention any details. 

Then, it got a little more personal for Guy.  

At the Wednesday fellowship meeting of the OK (Older Kids) at church, the man giving the ten minute devotions read some verses from Revelation.  It was part of a letter to some church in a place called Laodicea.  Verses 14 through 22 was the overall look, with emphasis on “I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone opens the door . . . “  
        He held up a small framed picture that most all the 2 dozen men and women there recognized.  He closed with a short prayer, inviting Jesus to come in to each life and bring His blessing.

Guy’s curiosity woke up there.  He took it on as a personal challenge to dig into more of those nine verses from the last book of the Bible.  But as he looked at the maps in the back and the concordance in the back of his Modern English Version of the Bible he sat down at the computer and hatched some ideas to improve his own understanding.

It turned out to be quite helpful, and he wrote it up for the OK group for next month’s handout.  At the following month’s meeting there was a lively discussion with lots of positive comments directed to Guy.

Here’s a copy of that handout. 

                                                 How to Find Out More

Zipping through that one Bible verse in your family’s daily devotional booklet or reading some devotional on the Internet page.  Try this:  S-L-O-W—-D-O-W-N—-Read that verse again and ask yourself . . .   Don’t know?  Maybe read a few verses ahead and a few verses afterwards.  See if you find a little more background that helps you picture what’s going on …..for them….and in your own life.  

1. Who is saying that, or who wrote that to someone?
2. Who did he write it to?
3. When was it said and written?
4. Why did he write that particular information?
5. Do we know what happened afterwards?  Any big change of attitude or circumstances there?
6. Do you know of anyone in these days who commented on this verse and its surrounding ones?
7. Have you heard anyone quote that verse or section of verses in giving a today’s version of a testimony in public or in conversation you heard?

OK.  You be a better thinker?  You can apply something from that verse to your own life? 

+ + + 

by Elaine Hardt ©2017  

Learning Now & Looking Ahead

Learning from yesterday’s troubles

I know there’s more to do;

I’m being trained to trust the LORD,

and He will see me through.

Praying for the LORD’s directions,

thankful for His blessings, too;

Looking ahead with confidence

now I’m planning what to do.  

: )     

by Elaine Hardt ©2017

Remember Mama? Write it Down . . .

Looking back to when we were kids each of us probably remember some things about Mama.  

And sometimes we reminisce and enjoy two things:  1.  Mama taught us some important things.  2.  We can still remember some of those times.  

So, write down what you remember.  It will be a treasure for the next generation.  There are lessons to be learned and that is good to do. 

This writing is just jotting stuff down.  No need to worry about spelling or punctuation —  that can be fixed at some later time.  

When you have more time jot down about some of your other relatives from those childhood days. Yes, you will enjoy doing this and reading it again later. 

So, how about it?  

by Elaine Hardt ©2017

Happy People and Happy Kids

Granddaughter Joy was in Ghana, Africa visiting HardtHaven Children’s Home in January 2017.  She writes, “I have been warmly welcomed home to Kpando, Ghana by my co-founder Edem Richard.  Everyone who has met Edem knows how inspiring he is, and the work he and his wife have done here in Kpando never ceases to amaze me.  HardtHaven has developed into something we only dreamed about when we first sketched out our plans over 11 years ago.” 

You’ll enjoy seeing the happy kids:  http://hardthaven.org   This is a nice new website, just updated yesterday. 

Be sure to look here, too:  https://www.facebook.com/HardtHaven  You can log in to Facebook or click “Not Now” to continue to see their website here.

   Amazon donates to HardtHaven a percentage of what you buy when you have an account on Amazon Smile. http://smile.amazon.com/ch/26-1469965  or copy this in a Tweet  http://smile.amazon.com/ch/26-1469965 #YouShopAmazonGives

HardtHaven is currently housing and caring for 23 AIDS orphans.  There are opportunities for volunteers from around the world to make a difference in Ghana.  

You can see HardtHaven in Ghana on Google Earth: https://www.google.cm/maps/place/7%C2%B000'03.8%22N+0%C2%B018'04.7%22E/@7.001072,0.2992428,1032m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d7.001067!4d0.301306      which is just down the dirt road from Margret Marquat Catholic Hospital. 

     HardtHaven is a blessing, a challenge, an opportunity to help many others. 

-- posted by Elaine Hardt 2017

Making it Easier For You

Do you like to be encouraged by someone, or challenged to give something some thought, or introduced to some new idea?   

Do you prefer short articles of facts, or stories of real people, or short poetry that is easily understood?  

You can find items posted in this blog in all of these categories.  For eleven years there’s been a variety of items posted, for a total of 580 writings.  

And the handy feature here is the list on the right side, an alphabetical list of key topics that you’ll find.  Want to consider the idea of “worry” or “purpose” or “encourage”? Look at all those topics waiting for your exploration.  

Making it easier for you to zero in on some topics for a quick read is the goal of this blog. Whether it’s just spending a few minutes or popping into the blog at least once a week there are ideas I share. 

by Elaine Hardt ©2017