Jan.29 a devotion for the day by Joe

Psalm 100
¶ "A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. " For most who know anything about the bible, they are familiar or at least know of the 100th Psalm. God made us to bring praise to the Lord(Him). We are to be thankful and bless His name. We are to praise Him in the morning, we are to praise Him at night. We are to praise Him in the good times and we are to praise Him in the bad times.


"WE ARE TO PRAISE HIM"

Jan. 29th. a few more pictures

Jan. 29, another picture

These pictures are supposed to be attached at their sides because it is one whole picture, together. I'm still learning with the computer stuff.

Snow, Snow, and More Snow!

Thursday January, 29th, 2010,

"Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? Job 38:22a


Since were not going to get snow here in the state of Alabama, compared to our northern states , I thought I,d bring a little to those who at least like to look at it.
I subscribe to a magazine called "Country". The subtitle is "for those who live in or long for the country". Only God can create what we see in these pictures.
Just for your info, I have added one from Manitoba, Canada, and a picture of a 1 yr old little boy in New York, dressed to go sledding. They are not all of snow, but I still thought you would enjoy them.
Stephanie

Thur. Jan 28th
11 " Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." Psalm 27:11-14


If we wait on the Lord, He will be our strength and our courage,
"IF WE WAIT ON THE LORD"
A Devotion for the day
In Christ,
Joe

Thursday, Jan 28th
This is Joseph and our pastor, Bro. Darryle Wilson. Bro. Darryle is a godly Christian man and our church is blessed to have him as our pastor. When you look at the picture, you should see a banner hanging behind them from the pulpit(we will explain the meaning of the banner in another blog). For those who do not know, we have a dear fellow Christian church member, Bro Mike Pendley, serving in Iraq right now. It has been hung there until bro. Mike returns home safely from his deployment. Lord willin, he is expected to come home this coming May. His wife, three kids, a daughter-in-law, and only granddaughter(and grandchild) are here, still attending church with us.
Are we praying for our soldiers overseas and at home in the US? Are we praying for their families as they must be left behind? Are we praying for our nation as it so desperately needs a spiritual revival? Are we praying for our president? Whether we voted for him or not, we are commanded to pray for "kings and all who are in authority" I Tim. 1:1-2 . If we find this hard to do, God will find it hard to bless us, our homes, and our nation. Our own hearts must be right (humble and obedient) before we can expect God to begin healing our nation.

In Christ,
Stephanie

Thursday, January 28th
"O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;" Psalm 63:1
January 1st of this year, I began reading my Bible through again, for the third time. We can go to church, and gain what we gain from the teaching, singing and preaching. But, I have discovered, there is simply no substitute for what is gained from a daily one on one personal time withthe Lord. With some prayer and reading of the Word, you will be amazed at the treasures God has in store for you, if you, "will seek him". (I took this picture years ago when I went for an early morning walk down my country road) Right now at 6a.m.,(early)while the house is quiet, is a good time for me.
I encourage you, if you haven't already, find a time that works for you.

In Christ,
Stephanie

Wed. Jan. 27, 2010
Josh took this picture in our front yard. Believe it or not, we did not plan to dress in patriotic colors for this picture. We dressed in separate areas, met later, and there we were. I guess the Lord
planned it for us..
For those who have never seen where we live, we have a humble little home on five acres.
About a fourth of our acreage is wooded. We are blessed to live in a good neighborhood(compared to some) in a rural area. We are located in a spot well known for wild life, especially deer. When it is not dry, we have a lovely branch(with lovely snakes sometimes too) flowing across our property(in this picture, it is just on the other side of the trees in the background). From the trees we have in our yard(half are cedar or pine) to the trees we can see beyond our five acres(in close wooded areas and trees scattered around), the Lord can truly bless us with some pretty fall foliage when the autumn season comes around. In case anyone should ask, autumn is my favorite season.

Our blog colors

Wed. Jan. 27, 2010
We want you to know why we chose red white and blue for our blog colors. First of all, we love America. We wish to make it clear-in our support of America and being patriotic, we do not mean
this from a political view, especially with the intentions of endorsing any certain political figure.
What we want to do is endorse, support, encourage, and revive the love anyone may have for our nation, God, and the Christian foundation she was built on. For those who still have a least a shred of love and respect for our country and often find yourself discouraged when considering the moral condition America is in today-we hope and pray, through the Lord, to revive your patriotic spirit and renew your love for God and country. Hopefully, the Lord will give us or renew a desire to lift our country up to Him in prayer, and ask Him to touch our hearts and our nation, that both will return to Him.
To begin with, our flag and it's colors stand for more than some may know.
White - the color of purity. It is a blend of all colors and works as a light reflector(have you ever noticed how someone who knows and loves Jesus(their sinful heart has been washed clean by His precious blood-does His light and love not reflect off of them?)
Red- the color of blood-the blood that has been shed by many that we may be blessed to live in a free nation. Also the blood that was shed on the cross by our Savior so that we might be free from Satan's bondage of sin and Hell. "Without shedding of blood is no remission" of sins. Heb.9:22
Blue- the color of the heavens. Like the word itself, the starry heavens and the Heaven of God are associated. The blue reminds us of the Heaven which those who know Christ will someday go. The shining stars on the blue remind us that those who "turn many to righteousness" shall shine " as the stars for ever" Dan 12:33

How are you today?

January 26th, 2010
Hello from the home of Joe and Stephanie Black and family. In the picture at right, we have
FR- John Paul- now 9, me-proud wife and mom of the crew, Joseph- proud husband and dad of the crew, and Benjamin-now 3.
BR- Joshua-now 13, Sara-now 15, and Matt- 19 . You may be wondering what's the deal with our blog title "Wonderful, Wonderful! Well....it goes like this. As most people know, Joseph(Joe) is the produce manager at the grocery store where he works(and has worked for thirty something years). Every day, as customers come in, if he's around, he is known for cheerfully greeting them with a big smile(he is well known for his smile and his "wonderful, wonderful") and a "hello, how are you doing today"? They will give a reply and then ask,
"How are you?" His reply? you guessed it! "Wonderful, wonderful".
The longer the Lord blesses us with another year of marriage(we will hit 22yrs. in July of 2010), the more I have people ask me, "Is his smile real? Is he really that happy all the time"?
The answer is "YES". We will post more about this on another blog.
We are a Christian family. We love the Lord with all our hearts and only want to serve Him.
We have prayerfully started this blog, in hopes that now and in the future, it will be used for the Lord to encourage Christians in their walk with the Lord. If it just happens to encourage those who do not know Christ, to want to know Him, that will be "wonderful, wonderful" too.
Just like my husband with a customer, we hope if your not smiling when you log on to this blog, we pray you will find something that leaves you smiling and/or laughing when you leave.

SMILE, JESUS LOVES YOU!

In Christ,
Joe & Stephanie(AKA Mrs. Joe)

" A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. "
Proverbs 17:22

(sorry, the family picture above is a year old. Since we have this blog now, we are going to try to do better with more updated pictures)