I guess this is my biggest and tallest "Soap Box", but I believe it is the most serious and most urgent thing we could be involved in while our children are small.   

Some people have likened the "neglect of training children" to leaving the gate open and the horse getting out. I think a better allegory is: Trying to get sugar out of the tea when you've over-sweetened it. You can sometimes get a horse back into the the corral but it is very difficult to dip the sugar back out of a liquid. All you can do is to try to dilute the 'too sweet tea' with more unsweetened tea.

That is about all we can do about our children when it is too late too...just try to dilute the garbage we have allowed...with the good stuff. It may be the only hope we have left at that point. How sad that is! Because there are so very many little teachable moments while they are growing up, at whatever age they happen to be....but we dohave to be with them to take advantage of thos teachable moments.

If you have noticed, most adult children do not come back...at least until it is too late to train their own little ones. We have seen many through the year 'get faithful' after their children are grown up. If you have young children and you are faithful to God now, while they are growinig up, be so thankful and give Him the glory for His grace. Generations have a tendency to repeat themselves either for good or for evil. God tells us to completely surround our children with His Word while they are growing up...teaching them to love it.

Deuteronomy 6: 5-9 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

Time is fleeting and their growing up years fade into adult years before we are hardly aware of it. 
©Edna L. Ingram



　

 

CHRISTIANS HAVE A HIGHER CALLING THAN THE WORLD DOES.

I was dusting the big frames in our bedroom that hold the large pictures of our grandchildren. I’ve never really noticed how dust forms before…on the horizontal pieces of the frames…but on the vertical places there is no dust.

It started me to thinking and I came to the conclusion that there is no place for the dust to rest on the vertical pieces. It just slides off onto the floor, evidently. Then this thought came to me: The vertical direction is pointing upward to heaven or downward…there no in between. The horizontal is neutral. Hmmm We don’t want to be neutral, that’s for sure!

Why are some people more able to resist Satan when they are tempted? It is because in their life, they have God’s Spirit dwelling in them and Satan has no resting place there. They are like Christ when He was tempted in Matthew chapter 4. They have a higher calling and they want to be faithful to that higher calling. Romans 8: 9-11; Romans 5:5; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 3:16.

I’ve heard it said that if you are not tempted much by Satan, it may be because he already has you. That may be true in some cases but not necessarily so. James 4:7  “…Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”  

Jesus also said in Matthew 11:28-30:   "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  

Life without Jesus would be a life full of different shades of drab!
We are either living for Christ or we are not! There is no neutral ground. If we are neutral we are only fooling ourselves. May all of us who are Christians, so live each day…that Satan can find no resting place long enough to work havoc in our lives.      © Edna L. Ingram

STATEMENTS THAT REALLY BOTHER ME.

STATEMENTS THAT REALLY BOTHER ME WHEN I HEAR THEM.

When people talk about their grandchildren and say:

1. "I never knew how much love my heart could hold 'til someone called me Grandma!:"

2. "If I'd known how sweet grandchildren were...I'd have had them first!" 

3. "There is nothing else like it!" 

4. "Grands and Greats are just so much more special."   

I feel very sorry for those parents because they evidently missed something very special in their own children.
We love our Grandchildren.  We have three of them.  We also now have six Great Grandchildren. We know how sweet and precious and special they are!!  But we have never said nor felt like those 4 statements above and we will not say them, because it is simply not true in our case.  They are very sweet and special...but in no way are they more so than our own children!

One day an acquaintance said to me, after his first grandchild was born.  "Isn't it amazing how much more special your grandchildren are than your children were?" I looked him in the eye and said, "Mine aren't!"    He looked shocked and then recovered quite nicely and said, " Well, when my kids were growing up, I was pretty busy and wasn't around them very much.  I had to work nights and sleep days."  
 
How sad and I'm afraid that is the norm in this present age.   I think about this and I wonder what their children feel and think when the statements above are made where they can hear them?   I think it is very sad and tragic. When our kids  and their kids see us loving their babies...they just know even more, how much they were loved when they were babies.  They don't hear the above statements made.   -Edna L. Ingram

ANYTHING WE CAN SEE AND TOUCH IS TEMPORARY.

THE WORD OF GOD STANDS FOREVER

 

While getting rid (or trying to get rid of..lol ) a bunch of clutter this morning, especially articles written by brethren of the church...We have saved lots of them through the years because we did the bulletin for so long, but since I’m not typing up the church bulletin any more...this thought came to me. I read them before I toss them even though I may not ever need them anymore. I think of all that as being tied to my spiritual life.

But in reality, most things here on earth are only tied to this earth. Even the printed Bible (unless we have it in our hearts) is tied to this earth. (Wait a minute....I’m getting to it. LOL) When the earth is burned up (2 Peter 3: 10-13) all those printed books will be burned up too. The pictures of our family that we treasure so...is also tied to this earth.

But we know that God’s Word is living and active and is forever...even though it is printed on earthly paper and that eventually wears out and will be destroyed. What makes it living...is God’s instructions and what we do with it in our lives. God wants us to digest it and allow it to become a part of us and to live it.

“...But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. “ 2 Peter 3: 10-13.

Training Up Our Children…Bible Style not Worldly Style.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

 

There is a lot of controversy over this little short Scripture. Some don’t believe it means what it says and they call it a “Truism” in defence of their position. In doing so they err. Truism means a “a self evident obvious truth. In believing that this Scripture doesn’t mean what it says (which is very plain), they believe the first part and throw away the best part. The last part of it is the “goal” you are trying to reach in their short lives. They believe they trained their children in the way they should go…but they did depart, and so they believe this is not a true statement in all cases.  So...how can we know that we  have failed?  It is plain as day, isn't it?

 

Another thing is that if young parents can’t believe this means exactly what it says…they won’t try as hard. It is a travesty to twist a Scripture to the point that it discourages efforts of a young parent. Compare it to a basket-ball team… and the team thinks they can’t win the game. They are not going to play as hard as they would if they believed they could win.

 

God lets us know the outcome of our efforts and it helped us tremendously in our efforts to train our children in the way they should go.  Yes, we made some mistakes...we all probably do…but I’m so thankful that I read this Scripture way back before I had read “man’s explanation” of it.

 

Late note:  Our daughter, when she was in her late teens said, "I've never seen a parent confess and repent and ask forgiveness for not training their children up in the way they should go.  If a parent did that...there is no telling what might happen."   Well...years later we saw that happen and what happened to their two children is simply amazing.  A couple of years after that, they became Christians and they were up middle aged by that time.   

 

Abortion is a 'smoother' word than 'killing'!

 

 

Back in 1995 when our Grandchildren were still playing softball and baseball, I had a dream one night. Because the dream was so vivid in my mind and seemed so real, I thought maybe God wanted me to share it. I did that day and just came across the newspaper clipping of it...and so I will again. 

We holler out loud when a man or woman kills a little baby...but when a nation does it, is that ok???? Maybe we can relate to "one" better than we can to "50 million."  

HIGH PRICE OF THINGS

Bobby and I were traveling one day and stopped in a small town to fill up the gas tank. One station was 2.99 per gallon and the one across the street was $305.
 
I asked Bobby, how there could be a difference in the price so close together and why would anyone spend $3.05 when they could buy it for 2.99. He said, “You don’t see a line over there, do you? And no I didn’t. 
We had to wait for a car to move and then one was waiting on us.
 
This caused me to think of the high price of sin (our very soul)...and how many are content to live there...and how few there are who live where the high price has already been paid...the blood of Jesus. How blessed are the ones who are the redeemed! There are many in line at “the other station” because broad is the way that leads to destruction. (Matthew 7: 13-14) It is very expensive and they will have to pay for it themselves...forever and ever.
 
If you live within driving distance from us and are interested, we would be happy to share the gospel with you in person. Message us and we can make arrangements. Or...we can do it through messaging. We will be kind.

HEALTHY FAMILY LOVE

HEALTHY FAMILY LOVE PREVENTS PROBLEMS

While our two children were small...ages five and three, we and a group of our Christian friends decided to sponsor a group of children from a children's home in Texas.  Most of the children in this home were not orphans in the true sense of the word.  Some of them had a mom or dad but who were just not responsible to care for them or they had health problems to the extent they could not care for themselves, much less their offspring.  On holidays and two weeks during the summer, the group kept up to as many as twenty-one children at times.

Some of the families had children of their own who became very jealous and resentful of the children from the home.  Our children didn't...and in fact really enjoyed the ones we kept and grew so close to them over the years that we are still close after they all grew up. It is a life time relationship and I think I have the key to this:
The families who had problems with the children quit keeping them during the summer and holidays because their kids resented them.  The parents had tried to make them such a part of the family for that weekend or two weeks that they neglected the attention and affection of their own to some extent.  It is folly to sense that in order to love someone enough you have to love another less or ignore them more.  By trying to make them a part of the family to the extent that they neglected and created resentment in their own children, defeated their intentions, because in return the visiting children felt more than ever like outsiders.  So no one won in this situation.  

WHO'S FIRST PLACE IN YOUR LIFE?

If I thought articles such as this were not helping anyone I would quit in a minute. It was such as this, though...back when we were young in the faith that helped us so much. 
 So....
After we learned and obeyed the gospel and had a young family growing up...we were trying to convert my dad. He was one of so many who believed that if you were just good you would go to heaven.  And he was a good man!  But that thinking is so false because if it were true, Jesus died for nothing.

 
I loved him so dearly...our mother had died when we were ages 3 (me) , 5 (my sister) and 8 (my brother).
 
Our dad really had his hands full trying to make a living and taking care of us too. His mother (a dear lady) either lived with us part of the time or we lived with her, but most of the time it was just us four.
 
Well back to my story...trying to convert him. He lived 150 miles away in western Oklahoma and when he would come visit or we would go visit him, it was very hard to leave and go to church when the time came. We invited him to go , but he wouldn't. It would have been even harder to put him before Christ and stay home with him.
 
It took 21 years to convert him and what a grand day that was when he telephoned me and told me about his baptism into Christ.

I was present one day when he was telling somebody (probably my aunt, can't remember) not long after he became a Christian that: "Bobby and Edna wouldn't stay home with us on Sunday or Sunday or Wednesday night...when we'd go visit them. They always left us and went on to church, after inviting us to go. "
 
I was thinking of that this morning and being so thankful that we didn't give in and stay home. I don't think he would have been converted without seeing what Christ meant to us. What we do is so much more important than what we say.
 
And...if your children can't see in you...that Christ is more important than anything else to you...they may not be faithful when they grow up. I am so very thankful for the grace of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

'TRAINING' MEANS MORE THAN JUST 'RAISING'

A young boy grew up and went to college for a year...then decided that wasn’t his desire in life.  He liked to work with his hands.  A diesel mechanic offered him a job in Texas and at 19-1/2 years of age, he left home and went to work there. 

He stayed with the man a couple of weeks until he found an apartment of his own. The man had two daughters still in school and they were being raised by their dad alone.  After the boy had lived there a couple of weeks he found his own place.

He called his parents quite often and one day he told them (laughingly)  that those two daughters, living at home...had more freedom than he did...out on his own.

What a strange thing to say.  But he didn't think that much freedom at their age was a good thing. What was interfering with his freedom?

Well... it was his training that he had received at home for all those years. He could now do as he pleased but what he pleased was to stay true to his up-bringing. That is the kind of training that Proverbs 22:6 is talking about.

Many people, we have found...do not believe that Scripture means what it says. They have to add their explanation to it. If we try to explain it to change its meaning...that is not teaching the truth.

It is training their ‘will’...as it says they ‘will’ not depart from it. It doesn’t say they can not.. A “will not” is better than a “can not”...... 

It is dedication...dedicating them to the Lord by the way you train them. It needs to be done early and continual as long as they are under your roof.  They need to have no doubt that God is in first place in their parents' lives...all the time.  No parent is perfect but God still commands us to train them... "in the way they should go'......Proverbs 22: 6

Shaping Our Children



One spring we left a bucket on the deck and it sat in the same place for about 6 months. After months of neglect, I recently moved it and this Bermuda grass had grown up through the deck and molded itself to the bottom of the bucket and died.

I thought it made a unique picture and quite pretty really, but it reminded me of the neglect of other things. Actually it reminds me of our life span…the ‘...dash’ between our birth date and our death date.

It also reminds me of how short a time we have to train our children. We can neglect our children’s spiritual and moral training and let the world mold them to its shape, and it is so easy to do, and the world is so willing to do it for us. Just doing nothing will accomplish it. Training children up rightly is hard work, but it is so very rewarding!
Doing this easy neglecting…. we can create different “shapes of adults” eventually. We can create drug addicts, alcoholics, dead beats, abusive mothers and fathers, selfish people, evil life styles and all kinds of shapes of people. But it isn’t pretty and it isn’t unique. It is more the norm than unique. How tragic, when it could have been so different!

IMAGINE THIS!

IMAGINE THIS!
Retrospect (thoughts) on Day of Judgment:

We taught our children to play little league...The little league grew up and was dispersed in all directions.

We taught our children to bowl and now the bowling alley is closed down and gone out of business.

We taught our children to love the great outdoors and to climb hills and mountains...and now the mountains are not found.... (See Revelation 10:20)

We taught our children to swim and to water ski...and now the waters roar and are troubled. (See Psalm 46:3).

We taught our children the love for travel and they visited the far countries and exotic islands and now...all the islands are fled away. (See Revelation 16:20).

But mostly....(By the grace and mercy of God) we taught our children to seek the Lord and to trust Him as the Rock of their salvation AND to be mindful of the next generations...and God hath not forsaken them. (See Deuteronomy 6: 5-9 and Psalm 9:10).

An Article By Our Grandson, Daniel.

Brighter Than Ever

It looks like our summer has come to a close. School is starting tomorrow and I know we are very excited about getting back into the school routine. For most of us that probably isn’t true. Even though summer seemed to have ended too soon, it was one to remember. The weather was pleasant, it rained, many of us went on vacations, we had a lot of fellowship activities with our spiritual family, we went to bible camp, had a very successful VBS, many families joined our congregation, and greatest of all, many individuals were obedient to the gospel and put on Christ in baptism. What an awesome summer we have had to see God working in our community and in our congregation. Even though God works in our lives all year long sometimes it is easier to see, when our lives aren’t so busy. Summer has been a great time to recharge, and fall is great time to let your light burn bright. Because of the school and community schedules there are activities throughout the week in which each of our families will participate. Our kids will be around their classmates and teammates, and we will be around more parents because of activities where our kids are involved. What a great time to take our momentum from summer and let our fire burn bright in our school and community. Here are three things that we can do as families to keep our fire burning bright throughout the school year.

Put God’s Word Before You

I know this sounds cliché, but the biggest quencher of fire is negativity and worldliness. When we fill our hearts and minds with God’s word we will see it overflow into our lives. If we let it, it will change the way we think and the way we act. In Luke 6, Jesus said that what is stored up in a person will come out of him. Fill our hearts with God’s word, so that negativity and sin doesn’t have anywhere to dwell in our lives.

Stay Close to the Body

I have never been in a deathly cold situation before but I did read a survival guide once. When individuals get cold they begin to hold each other close together. Instead of one individual striving to keep their body temperature up, two people huddle up together and they keep each other warm. In our busy schedules let’s not separate ourselves from the body of Christ. One of the purposes of the church is to encourage and uplift  (Heb. 10:25). It is vital that we don’t let our busy schedules dim the fire that is burning within us. When we surround ourselves with Christians our fire is kindled. When we fill our schedules with the world we begin to dim. Don’t let anything get in the way of your fellowship with other Christians.

Lead with Direction

Through the grace, mercy and forgiveness that has been offered to us through Jesus Christ, we are promised a heavenly home. God wants us to know that we have a home with Him someday. That alone should ignite us. When we know our destination, it should change our direction. When I understand what God has done for me through Christ Jesus, I understand that I must turn my heart towards Him. Direction can be seen. Just as a person knows that when they see me on highway 62 going east, they know I am going to Lawton; so also when a person sees the direction of your heart they can see your eternal destination. When the direction of our hearts is pointed to God, it changes our world. It changes my family, my coworkers, my classmates, and my friends. We must keep our destination in mind, let that ignite our passion so that we can be on fire for God and turn the direction of our hearts toward heaven. If we do that we will lead those who want to follow, and we will be an example to those who don’t.   -Daniel Ingram

Don't fret over wrinkles
They are brought by our joys;
Our little Grand Girls
And our little Grand Boys.
They're given by God
And they are ours to keep;
Pressed in by our pillow
At night as we sleep.
©Edna L. Ingram

WRITING THE NEW TESTAMENT IN CURSIVE.

 

Notebook holds complete New Testament and Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, handwritten.  (Written all in 2012 from February when our group started doing this through August.   Not going as fast this second time around.

 

Writing the New Testament in longhand, book by book.
We seem to be losing our freedom in this land, bit... by bit. This group is to encourage each other and to write so that if our Bibles are ever outlawed...perhaps we will have an inconspicuous one written down in long hand and get to keep them. What a joy it would be to not lose them completely. God commanded the kings of Israel to write themselves a copy of the Law even before there were kings. 

I know for a fact that it is very rewarding to write it...even more so than reading it, because it is more vivid, writing it.

 

Deuteronomy 17: 18-19   "... When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests.   It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees..."

 

 

'\ 

 

 

 

 



THANK GOD FOR THE FATHERS WHO…

Bobby and Wendell, our son, at the tomb of the Known Soldier

in Rome, Georgia.

 

THANK GOD FOR THE FATHERS WHO…

…are faithfully married to and love their children’s mother.

…work hard to provide for their families and are instilling

this work ethic in their children.

…understand the importance of training their children in the

way of the Lord.

…are faithful in their attendance to the assemblies.

…are diligent and consistent in disciplining their children.

…take time to listen to and talk to their children.

…are willing to make sacrifices to spend time with their

children.

…pray daily with and for their children.

…have developed strong godly convictions and refuse to

compromise them.

…are making every effort to set an example of godliness

before their children.

…are teaching their sons how to be men, while at the same

time sharing with them the joys of being a kid.

…are teaching their daughters the importance of modesty and

discretion and instilling in them a strong sense of

self-worth.

…keep their word, seldom make promises and never fail to

keep the promises they make.

…are not too proud to admit when they are wrong.

…take seriously the responsibilities of fatherhood.

Wendell Ingram

Big Things and Small Things Show Us There Is A God In Heaven.

There are so many small things and situations that show there is a higher Being as much as there are big things. The Bible makes note of them in Romans 1:20 and portrays that it is so clear that there is a God, that people are without excuse."...For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:..."

I want to write about a very small thing that we consider a nuisance...snot...or mucous as the medical term. I don't have scientific data on this...it is just experience on pain.
 
I didn't know it was beneficial and probably would not have known, but I had acid reflux really bad one night at my brother's house. About 10 p.m. lying in bed, it happened. Right up it came and the acid seared my throat and esophagus big time. It was very painful until the mucous built up and then the pain eased. It helped until it built up so much I had to cough to get some of it out....then the pain started again. Over and over all night until close to daylight. I doubt if anyone got much sleep that night.  I didn't know until then that mucous helped pain.

When people get pneumonia with all the fluid and mucous build-up in the lungs, there must be a situation that would be unbearably painful...could be why they get pneumonia, because as the lungs fill up with it, the pain eases.  (Just a thought.) 

Our bodies and how they can heal themselves.... is evidence of a Creator. There are many ways our bodies can heal themselves if given time. Sure there are times when we need a doctor but more often than not there are antibodies and other things in our circulatory system that are very healing. God made us...He knows us inside out and even our very thoughts and motives.

On a side note: God knowing our motives is very comforting to me. Sometimes people may think they know why we did a good thing and it may not be very flattering what they think. But God knows why we do everything we do. It is laid out bare and open for Him alone to see, because He knows our hearts...even our very motives. Sometimes our motives may not be so pure...He knows that too, but we can get forgiveness when we repent.   Christians are so blessed!

 

A TRUE STORY:

 

"I'm not around my son, Wendell very long until I'm looking for a pencil and some paper to write on."
Wendell told about a man with 8 children that he worked with at Bailey Motor Co., when he lived in Texas. The man saved up enough money to take his family to the Grand Canyon. They drove all night long and reached the Grand Canyon about sun-up.

The family was all asleep in the station wagon, so he got out of the car and pushed the door shut quietly and went to the ranger station to see what programs they had to offer. Unknown by the others, his little 2 year old boy woke up and slipped out of the partially closed car door and went over to look at the canyon all by himself.

In a little while, the daddy heard someone holler, "Who's that little boy on the rim of the canyon!"

He looked and it was his own little boy right on the edge, looking down into the depths of the canyon. He ran as fast as he could and went under the fence and grabbed his son by his little overall straps and pulled him to safety. He said he was just sick the whole time they were there and couldn't enjoy a bit of their vacation.

This story is so scary and if it were our little child, it would have been even more scary!

Wendell went on to relate...we wouldn't want our children to get that close to...and walk the rim of the Grand Canyon, but many think nothing of it when theirs are  getting too close to...and walking the rims of hell. Parents need to wake up and wake up now, before it is too late for their offspring!




 

Looking At Life Through Rose-tinted Glasses

http://secure.smilebox.com/ecom/openTheBox?sendevent=4d6a6b794e6a4d774d54493d0d0a&blogview=true&campaign=blog_playback_link

WHAT OUR EXAMPLE CAN DO.

Mahatma Gandhi, (1869-1948) who liberated thousands of people in India and Africa...rejected "Christianity" and Jesus Christ, because of the examples of some of those who called themselves Christians. He became acquainted with and attended services with some who claimed to be Christians,  and he became interested in Christianity....but in the assembly, he saw some sleeping and/or not paying much attention to what was being taught. It turned him against Christianity because he saw no real commitment. If this man Jesus, had sacrificed Himself for them, surely they would have been more committed and reverent to Him. 
 
The Bible warns us about causing people to stumble:   Matthew 18:7   "Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!"
 
So...Gandhi continued the way he was going....and sought after self-purification and rejected the blood of our Saviour. What if he had learned the truth and obeyed the gospel?   What did the world lose because of some bad examples? We, in the church of our Lord, need to be mindful of how we are appearing to others. We don't know who we will turn away... who could have been an asset in the cause that we claim to live for.    -Edna L. Ingram