From the time I was little, I have had a fear of crossing bridges, especially if they had fast- running water under them. The ones that especially frightened me were the ones with grids where you could see through the bridge to the water. Then there was the board out at my Uncle Ernie’s place that you had to cross on foot when the creek was in flood stage, and I don’t believe I was ever able to walk across it. I can remember my cousin Jim (who was quite a bit bigger than I was) carrying me over it at least once. Every time he took a step, the board would sink a little, but as long as he was carrying me I wasn’t afraid. When I started learning to drive, there was one bridge that was on a country road, and whenever I had to cross it (with a Model A Ford) I was afraid I was going to hit both sides of it at once. Of course I never did, because there was lots of room, it just didn’t look like it from the driver’s seat! Sometimes I would have a nightmare where I would be driving over a long bridge, and the water kept rising and coming closer to the bridge until part of the bridge was submerged in the water. Then suddenly the bridge ahead of me was under water, and when I looked behind me that was under water too, so there was no way of escape. I would awaken in a real fright, as you can imagine. Sometimes in our lives we have bridges to cross that don’t seem to have any end, and the dark waters loom ever closer. That’s when we need to let Jesus carry us across and trust in Him to reach the other side safely. Dear Lord, help us to know in our hearts that You are there to carry us through the hard places, to lift us up when we have no strength in ourselves, to have faith that in Your arms there is security, and that You will never let us fall. “He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young… Even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.” Isaiah 40:11, 46:4 NKJV ©2006 H. M. Stratton All rights reserved. Website: www.pleasantportals.zoomshare.com Email for questions, comments, to subscribe or unsubscribe: mamastrat@myfam.com or mamastrat@hotmail.com

The other day I mowed the front lawn, and it’s so bumpy that I had a real time getting it cut evenly. I’m hoping to get the pickup going soon, and then I can go to the landfill and bring home some compost to fill in the hollow spots. I could go to a friend’s place out in the country and get all the manure I want for free, but I’m not sure how the smell would go over with the neighbors! Real manure seems to make better fertilizer than any of the substitutes that you can buy in the lawn and garden center in any of the stores, but there is that one drawback. Once when we lived in Rapid City, my brother brought me a load of well- rotted manure for my lawn. The grass grew very well after that, but the odor was a little strong right after we put it on the ground, even with it being composted, and it took a while to get rid of it. No one really complained, but there were a few comments floating around for a while… In writing this, I began to wonder how it would relate to the Christian life—but in the parable of the sower and the seed in Matthew chapter 13, Jesus said that some of the seed fell on good ground and brought forth a great harvest. Good ground would mean rich soil, and rich soil would mean it had been fertilized and well taken care of, so manure does have a place in the Christian life after all! Father, we ask that You would use not only the water of Your Word in hearts where the seed has been planted to help it grow and mature, but also that You would use the fertilizer of the Spirit to bring understanding and make the soil rich for harvest. “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Matthew 13:23 NKJV ©2006 H. M. Stratton All rights reserved. Website: www.pleasantportals.zoomshare.com Email for questions, comments, to subscribe or unsubscribe: mamastrat@myfam.com or mamastrat@hotmail.com

The other day I mowed the front lawn, and it’s so bumpy that I had a real time getting it cut evenly. I’m hoping to get the pickup going soon, and then I can go to the landfill and bring home some compost to fill in the hollow spots. I could go to a friend’s place out in the country and get all the manure I want for free, but I’m not sure how the smell would go over with the neighbors! Real manure seems to make better fertilizer than any of the substitutes that you can buy in the lawn and garden center in any of the stores, but there is that one drawback. Once when we lived in Rapid City, my brother brought me a load of well- rotted manure for my lawn. The grass grew very well after that, but the odor was a little strong right after we put it on the ground, even with it being composted, and it took a while to get rid of it. No one really complained, but there were a few comments floating around for a while… In writing this, I began to wonder how it would relate to the Christian life—but in the parable of the sower and the seed in Matthew chapter 13, Jesus said that some of the seed fell on good ground and brought forth a great harvest. Good ground would mean rich soil, and rich soil would mean it had been fertilized and well taken care of, so manure does have a place in the Christian life after all! Father, we ask that You would use not only the water of Your Word in hearts where the seed has been planted to help it grow and mature, but also that You would use the fertilizer of the Spirit to bring understanding and make the soil rich for harvest. “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Matthew 13:23 NKJV ©2006 H. M. Stratton All rights reserved. Website: www.pleasantportals.zoomshare.com Email for questions, comments, to subscribe or unsubscribe: mamastrat@myfam.com or mamastrat@hotmail.com

The other day I mowed the front lawn, and it’s so bumpy that I had a real time getting it cut evenly. I’m hoping to get the pickup going soon, and then I can go to the landfill and bring home some compost to fill in the hollow spots. I could go to a friend’s place out in the country and get all the manure I want for free, but I’m not sure how the smell would go over with the neighbors! Real manure seems to make better fertilizer than any of the substitutes that you can buy in the lawn and garden center in any of the stores, but there is that one drawback. Once when we lived in Rapid City, my brother brought me a load of well-rotted manure for my lawn. The grass grew very well after that, but the odor was a little strong right after we put it on the ground, even with it being composted, and it took a while to get rid of it. No one really complained, but there were a few comments floating around for a while… In writing this, I began to wonder how it would relate to the Christian life—but in the parable of the sower and the seed in Matthew chapter 13, Jesus said that some of the seed fell on good ground and brought forth a great harvest. Good ground would mean rich soil, and rich soil would mean it had been fertilized and well taken care of, so manure does have a place in the Christian life after all! Father, we ask that You would use not only the water of Your Word in hearts where the seed has been planted to help it grow and mature, but also that You would use the fertilizer of the Spirit to bring understanding and make the soil rich for harvest. “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Matthew 13:23 NKJV ©2006 H. M. Stratton All rights reserved. Website: www.pleasantportals.zoomshare.com Email for questions, comments, to subscribe or unsubscribe: mamastrat@myfam.com or mamastrat@hotmail.com

How good it is, when you have been busy working or otherwise occupied, to come to a spring or well, take a break and enjoy a refreshing drink of good cold water. One place where we lived there was a spring that came out of the rocks; near my brother’s place someone has driven a pipe into a spring that comes out of the ground; before they had their own well, they used this spring water for their household, and it was so good! We have lived in places where the water tasted pretty bad, and most of the time city water of any kind is not to my liking. Right now, we use filter pitchers for our drinking and cooking water, and that is quite good, but nothing beats water that comes directly from a good spring or well. It is not surprising to me that the Holy Spirit is spoken of as a well of water springing up in all believers. Father, help me to remember that You are the One who gives us living water, and as we come to You and drink, we need never be thirsty again. “Jesus stood and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:37b,38 NKJV ©2006 H. M. Stratton, All rights reserved. Website: www.pleasantportals.zoomshare.com Email me for Questions, Comments, to Subscribe or Unsubscribe: mamastrat@myfam.com