IN CHRIST ALONE!

IN CHRIST ALONE......

Enough Said!

HAPPY BIRTTHDAY USA!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA

A Picture Festival!

Celebrating semi-quincentennial milestone of the United States. 

Think two and a half centuries since the 2nd Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, PA in 1776 to adopt the Declaration of Independence.

Uncle Sam invites you to many events in Bryson City!

Bunting on Bridges throughout Bryson City, NC

National Parks celebrate----in our area it's the Great Smoky Mountains!

John Mc "Mayor" of our street has designated the turn toward our house with the best descriptor phrase of all. "ONE NATION UNDER GOD"

A NC license plate shares the value of the phrase as well.

NBC news shared women who worked together for over a year to "Stitch the Story" of the 13 colonies. What an amazing use of talents.

CBS shared a list of 250 American State songs. Hope the list puts some familiar ear worms in our ears. Two of my faves were "What a Wonderful World," by Louis Armstrong and "Take My Hand Precious Lord by Mahalia Jackson,

"Sail forth 250" was also shown on TV from New York Harbor and Governor's Island and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Statue of Liberty

Oldest State boat in the Sail 4th----Elissa (1877) from Texas

BROOKLYN BRIDGE (Family home area)

Our church and others prayerfully shared thanks to our Heavenly Father for the gift of freedom and thanks to the men and women who have defended it. 

Petitions were lifted to bless the leaders who guide our nation with godly wisdom....along with unity among believers to seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. (Micah 6:8)

In His name....to God's glory and in service to others--our Prayer for Independence Day!

A celebration pic from CA friend, Gigi!

Fireworks from Kentucky friend, JA!

A BIG thanks to grandson, JP who had some fireworks on his Instagram page!

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, 

the people He chose for his inheritance. (Psalm 33:12, NIV)

CONSIDERING SPARROWS!

Rarely do we find ourselves reading the same book at our house.

But God used "birder" hubby and I who keeps Philippians on many devotional selections each year to join together in reading "Considering Sparrows."  "What Birds Teach Us About Who We are, Where We're Going, And the Joy of Following Jesus" clearly spoke to both of us.

We follow the recommendation of the author as we try to read it together outside when possible. Think a  on a bench at Deep Creek where our seeing often comes through our ears. Hubby knows Carolina Chickadee  one chirps 3 times in a row.  If it's raining we can read on the porch!

A blustery day might have us inside but sitting beside our double open windows and watch birds flit from tree to tree. Just the mountains in the background remind us of God's absolute ownership of all creation in Scripture. "I know all the birds of the mountains, and wild beasts of fields are mine."

Even Psalm 11:1, NKJV reminds of protection: In the LORD put I my trust: How say ye to my soul, flee as a bird to your mountain?"

We take turns reading and we even mark references in the book in green and red depending on bird info or Scripture verses or Biblical analogy's

  

CONSIDERING SPARROWS---I give a 5**** review on the parts We have read sp far!

GOD IS NEAR!

God is near!

How does one know God is near?.......

.........For the Bible tells Him so!

In the 60's water tag game, "Marco Polo" if Daddy is "it" he wants his children to "find" him! God is similar in our lives. He wants to be found by those who seek Him. He is always near whether they can see him or not.

Allen Bible Church, 3/8/2026. (Click link for service.)

Verse summation God is not far from any one of us.

 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, (Acts 17:27)

Hallelujah---that preacher, the Marco Polo Dad, cometh to us today!

MOCKINGBIRD MATTERS!

Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, explores themes of prejudice and injustice. The title refers to the moral lesson that it's a sin to harm innocent creatures, like the mockingbird, which some of the characters in the story symbolize.

This morning, former next door neighbor, WH, who is spending the week here in the mountains with a few (18 of her family) sent me this pic.

A mockingbird no less!

How appropriate as hubby and I have been reviewing the Mockingbird Maturity chapter in Considering Sparrows. Today, we even discussed the unusual traits of mockingbirds, the state bird of Tennessee, identified by the collective noun, "echo".....which makes sense as it has the ability to "mimic" sounds and songs of other birds, people & mechanical noises. 

 

However, it was the book-defining quote (Burrell p. 159) from character Miss Maudie who explains to Scout, the lawyer's daughter in To Kill a Mockingbird, which amazed me. 

'it's a sin to kill a mockingbird' because they 'don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up other people's gardens, nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.' (Lee, p. 90, emphasis mine)

Two different books, and 1 picture taken by a dear Memphis friend "sealed" the deal for me. 

Share this info. It matters!

TIMES GONE BY---

Books, pictures, objects and chats with friends like Diane H., have a way of jogging my memory when I think I've lost it.

This morning I was reviewing some fave pages of Wilma Dykeman's book, The French Broad. Meeting her years ago at the Governor's Writers Academy in Appalacha influenced my continued intrigue of the area! Though she was the historian of the state of TN, she was a native of Asheville, NC.

A fave chapter (#10) involved a fervent old time preacher, speaking to a heat-oppressed crowd, with the real soul-splitting, happy-shouting kind of religion. ....not mamby-pamby, low voiced stuff. 

"Because, brother, I'm a-telling you straight, you've got to take the tonic of God and eat the whole word that will put some zip in your soul...." 

(p. 310) 

He reminded those listeners on the courthouse steps of a bone-deep thirst for God's word as similar to theirs for the little 6.5oz, green bottle of Coca-Cola. (a long-time fave of mine as well as Diane's)

The preacher's conclusion .....without God's word one can end up in the "muck and mire of hell" where there ain't  no relief.....

"There ain't no fans, nor no rest and, brother, there ain't no Cokes in hell." (p. 313)

Thx Diane for a fun, encouraging chat!

? > SOLOMON

What is > Solomon?

Yes.....greater than!

Think who?

With  a wise wrap up!

WORDS OF WISDOM!!

MURMURATIONS MONDAY!

Hubby and I sat by the open window listening to the birds this morning* ---woodpeckers, a tufted tit mouse and Carolina wrens. Yesterday in the Nantahala National Forest we saw signs and info on many birds. 

We also heard what we thought was a ruckus of blue jays.

Together we have been reading Considering Sparrows by Kevin Burrell which offers analogies of timeless truths from our feathered friends to the book of Philippians. 

Chapter 5 dealt with murmuration of starlings. What a unified group!(Burrell. p.46-47, 50-51) Burrell compares the importance of their collective consciousness to that of the body of Christ. 

Believers whose hearts are bound in Christian love!

"Blest be the tie that binds" (John Fawcett)......birds or believers....all a part of God's creation.

"The flock of God is a murmuration, dancing in the sky like grace." (Burrell. p.56)

*listening to the birds between the cacophony of Great Smoky Mountain Railroad clacking on the tracks or blaring horns down ridge from us.

EULOGY: A GOOD WORD!

GOOD WORDS!

WISE WORDS!!

Live your life in such a way that when you die other people cry and you rejoice! 

ALLEN Bible Church 6/21/2026

BIGFOOT SEARCH PARTY!

A true search to look for clues to see if BIGFOOT is REAL!

The hunt begins with bag to hold clues found, binoculars, a magnifying glass and a whistle to alert the leader when a clue was discovered.

Then he appears! Is he real or not?

Check the feet and decide!

Check the nails if you're not sure!

Hmmm....some are not afraid but others not so sure!

A big thanks to Poppy for the best pix......

......and Molly who carried it over to Father's Day 2026!