The Cookie Thief

by Valerie Cox

A woman was waiting at an airport one night,
With several long hours before her flight.
She hunted for a book in the airport shops.
Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.

She was engrossed in her book but happened to see,
That the man sitting beside her, as bold as could be.
Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag in between,
Which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene.

So she munched the cookies and watched the clock,
As the gutsy cookie thief diminished her stock.
She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,
Thinking, "If I wasn't so nice, I would blacken his eye."

With each cookie she took, he took one too,
When only one was left, she wondered what he would do.
With a smile on his face, and a nervous laugh,
He took the last cookie and broke it in half.

He offered her half, as he ate the other,
She snatched it from him and thought... oooh, brother.
This guy has some nerve and he's also rude,
Why he didn't even show any gratitude!

She had never known when she had been so galled,
And sighed with relief when her flight was called.
She gathered her belongings and headed to the gate,
Refusing to look back at the thieving ingrate.

She boarded the plane, and sank in her seat,
Then she sought her book, which was almost complete.
As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise,
There was her bag of cookies, in front of her eyes.

If mine are here, she moaned in despair,
The others were his, and he tried to share.
Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,
That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief.

How many times in our lives,
have we absolutely known
that something was a certain way,
only to discover later that
what we believed to be true ... was not?

The Blessedness of Trusting

Another branch of blessedness, is a power of reposing ourselves and our concerns upon the Lord's faithfulness and care; and may be considered in two respects: a reliance upon him that he will surely provide for us, guide us, protect us, be our help in trouble, our shield in danger; so that however poor, weak, and defenceless in ourselves, we may rejoice in his all sufficiency as our own; -- and further, in consequence of this, a peaceful, humble submission to his will, under all events which, upon their first impression , are contrary to our own views and desires... For want of more of this spirit, multitudes of professing Christians perplex and wound themselves, and dishonour their high calling, by continual anxieties, alarms, and complaints. They think nothing safe under the Lord's keeping, unless their own eye is likewise upon it; and are seldom satisfied with any of his dispensations: for though he gratify their desires in nine instances, a refusal in the tenth spoils the relish of all, and they show the truths of the Gospel can afford them little comfort, if self is crossed. But blessed is the man who trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: he shall be kept in perfect peace, though the earth be moved, and the mountains cast into the midst of the sea.

~John Newton

Taken from Letters of John Newton, Banner of Truth 1990, pg. 150-151

Spring is Coming

I have been very busy this past week so blogging has been put to the back burner. So I thought I would share some of the things I have been doing and learning.

Last Saturday I started my first seedlings of the season. Although it looks nothing like Spring out side it is that time to get a head start on the season. I planted three types of tomatoes: Lime Green Salad, Aunt Ruby's German Cherry, and Best Boy. Also I planted California Wonder peppers.

If you are interested in starting your own seeds now is the time to try it out. It really isn't as hard as many people think. Here are some articles to get you started:

10 Seed- Starting Tips

How to Succeed at Seed Starting

Starting Seeds Indoors


Any gardening book should have instructions also, just find the best method to fit your circumstances and give it a try.

Another thing I have been learning is digital photography. I hope to share more about that later.

Have a great day!

For Sale: Handmade Fabric Pins

I am offering for sale five adorable flower pins made out of fabric to use as clothing accessories, or to decorate purses, coats, or bags. Each fabric flower has a pin securely sewn to the back for easy decoration and the edges are finished with fray preventer. The diameter of each of these is 3 1/2 inches.

Fabric Pin 001

$3.50 + shipping*

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Fabric Pin 002

$3.50 + shipping*

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Fabric Pin 003

$3.50 + shipping*

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Fabric Pin 004

$3.50 + shipping*

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Fabric Pin 005

$3.50 + shipping*

*Shipping costs are a flat rate of $2.00, I only ship to USA addresses.

Women Preachers

We have all heard, seen, or heard of women preachers. In our day they are every where, women leaving their roles as teachers of good things to the younger women and loving and training their children, to preach the Gospel ( or their gospel) while denying the inerrant Word of God as a rule for all parts of life, including the roles of men and women. But I am not here to rant about unbiblical female preachers in the evangelical movement, but rather that all women are preachers and we are to teach a very important lesson to the Church and the world.

Our lives are our pulpit, our submission the message. God has given us a mandate to be a sign and symbol of what the Church is to Christ. We can either preach that the Church is independant of Christ by being unsubmissive, or we can teach the beauty of the Gospel by humble submitting to our head who is a picture of Christ. From the beginning God set up an order to teach His plan for salvation, and he gave the man the headship and authority and the woman the place of helpmeet. He didn’t do this because one was better than the other, but because He created them in that order and for that purpose. How sad it is when women, in the name of the Gospel, throw off God’s order and according to His Word, are guilty of blasphemy. That is exactly what we do when we are not obedient to our authorities. Paul taught that very clearly in Titus 2:5, that to be disobedient to their own husbands was to blaspheme the Word of God. How serious that is! Yet how glorious the way of God is, that we could teach so important a truth simple by living in submission to our heads and ultimately to God’s Word.

I have heard women before question why their husbands couldn’t leave their work and be helpers to their wives. Have you ever thought about what kind of message that sends when we consider that marriage is a picture of Christ and the Church? Christ is simply the helper of the Church in all of her plans and work is what I read in it. It is opposite of what the scripture teaches; yet don’t many churches act like that? That they can do their way of spreading the gospel no matter how opposing it is to the Word of God and still expect Christ to be their helper in it. The Word of God cannot conform to our lives, but rather our lives to the Word of God. That is the picture we are suppose to represent in marriage; the Bride leaves her ways, her dreams and passions, and is joined unto Christ to be His helper in His Kingdom.

As wives, and even daughters, we have a very important message to preach, but we can only preach it by the means God has given us leaning on His grace. Not by usurping the headship of our authorities and taking to the pulpit, but by simply living in accordance with God’s written commands. May God bless you with His grace through His Son in your high calling.

Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. (Emphasis added)

Ephesians 5:21-33