Pencil in His Hand: A Mother's Journal of Stories, Thoughts, and Poems.

  Some of the children's art Laying Our Lives Down We've been busy this week with a holiday Bible school. For five days, the Gospel was shared, songs were sung, great fun was had, and hands were kept busy with crafts. My craft group consisted of grade two and three girls. A very sweet bunch! Our Pastor shared the Word around the theme of God's love, and the children were also fed with teatime sandwiches, cool drink, and lunch. It is lot's of fun, but also tiring and very hard work. Not to mention noisy and challenging at times. You can't have 130 children in one place without some nonsense! I have to admit, that I did grumble a little. The washing was mounting at home and my feet were getting sore. Yet, we all soldiered on with a smile. This was not our work. No, it is all done for the Lord. The children must have a chance to hear that God loves them and wants to forgive and save them. This morning, Matthew 16:24 came up on my phone. I include the verses which follo...

  The Mansion: A Short Story In our time, and in our world, there lived a man in a palatial and ostentatious home. He had inherited a vast estate, and lived off of its benefits as well as the investments he had made.  The mansion  was so large, that one could easily lose count of its bedrooms when walking through its hallways. Each bedroom was luxuriously and vibrantly furnished with welcoming beds of various sizes, cozy seating, lush plants, and entertainments. The over-sized home also boasted large living areas, as well as a library and study which were any bookworm's dream. As for the grounds, they were a fantasy land, which beckoned one to stroll, play, and swim. An elite army of servants saw to it that efficiency and near perfection were maintained. But their job was made more challenging by a strange oddity of the man of the mansion. You see, he had no wife or children. Instead, he had collected many, many pets. And these pampered and spoiled pets filled the luxurio...

  Splashes of Spring Some garden joy. 😊🌼🌸🌻💕🙏   If I were to choose captions for these photos, I would probably write "joy" beneath each one. You probably recognize these rather common garden plants. None of them are perfect: no doubt, some may have holes in their leaves, and a hungry caterpillar lurking upon them. But none of that matters. The bugs have their part to play too.  What really strikes me as I walk around my Spring garden, is the exuberance; the abundance; the joy. Yes, God is most certainly in the garden. We see Him in the intricate, delicate designs of the flowers and in the industrious creatures. And yes, God is with each believer as we go about our work, or simply sit on a bench to enjoy His company and His Creation. *** Garlands of bright sunshine decorate my gate: Gentle, happy faces, His love now radiate *** Copyright: pencil in His Hand 🌼🌸🌻

  Richelle Brunstetter. Unsplash Hope Blooms His peace and love will reign  where missiles brutal fell As Zion blooms again  and Jesus makes all well *** 🙏🙏🙏 Copyright: pencil in His Hand ***

  Photo: Amir Afrefi. Unsplash Hiding Place As troubles now surround us, the way before is clear: I know that You will hide us; there is no need to fear. For when the skies grow darker still: You'll draw us to Your side; Through the clouds we'll fly away: to Your sweet love we'll ride *** Copyright: pencil in His Hand 💕🙏🇮🇱 Dear Readers, I hope that you are well. Just a note to say that God willing, going forward, posting will be as led by the Spirit. We are living in exciting times. The Lord's return is surely very close. There is no time to waste when it comes to sharing the Gospel and encouraging our brothers and sisters in Christ. With this in mind, posting may seem a bit random, so please subscribe if you like. This will also be true for my Afrikaans blog. Love and prayers,  Alison 

  Pray! So many people need our prayers: They need to feel that someone cares They need to know Lord Jesus too, be healed and drawn, be made brand new I think of all the suffering ones, held hostage, hurt by men with guns Some are being unfairly kept, marched away whilst mothers wept all while hungry children groan: we see their tears, we hear their moans our hearts sink low with their despair, we trust that Jesus truly cares and though we live so far away, He calls us daily, come now, pray! Listen, for He calls soon, go! Share the Gospel, ease their woe! Never ceasing in our prayers, take all to Him, the One who cares. *** Copyright: pencil in  His Hand. *** 🙏🙏🙏🙏

  The Project: A Free Coffee Break Read Joe looked up from his weeding as the building supply truck rumbled to a stop alongside his neighbour's fence. Must be a big project. He smiled and continued with his work. A few minutes later, he  bagged up the weeds he'd pulled and turned to go inside for lunch. "Hi, Mac." He waved to his neighbour, who was directing the delivery men. "Making some improvements?" The portly man grinned. "Sure am. Going to be building a large shed. I'm running out of space to store my collections." Joe nodded and smiled politely. Everyone on the street knew about Mac's penchant for collecting. Anything from antique toys, to tools, to lawn mowers. He even had a stash of vintage signs which he  hoped would fetch a tidy sum one day.  Joe would have liked to buy and old mower to refurbish and use, but Mac was the sort who hoarded everything for a rainy day. As far as Joe knew, he'd never even held a garage sale. Joe t...

  Illustrated Inspirational Poems Dearest Readers, Here are a few poems from my poetry notebook. I hope you feel encouraged today. The world is so dark. Evil abounds. It is easy to feel discouraged and sad. How blessed we are to have Jesus! He is our joy. Do you know Him too? *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** Copyright: pencil in His Hand Are you searching? Would you like to know more about Jesus? You may find my testimony helpful. (Just scroll down a little.) Testimony John 3:1-8, 10-21 ESV [1] Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. [2] This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” [3] Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” [4] Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” [5] J...

  Dearest Readers, I hope you will find something to inspire and encourage you in this longer post. Enjoy! And may God bless you. As usual, I invite you to stay awhile and browse my bookshelves for more free reads.  See you next week, God willing. Love, Alison The Return As Donal put one weary, blistered foot in front of the other, he forced himself to remain alert to danger. He had yet to reach the border between the Broadlands and the Narrows. Donal scratched nervously at his ragged beard and scanned the field beside the road for food. He pounced on some grains which had been forgotten by the harvestors, then stuffed them into his sack quickly. He could see land men in the distance. They were a hot-tempered and mean-spirited folk. He knew this from experience, having been worked nearly to death by a land man for a bare handful of food a day. Donal forced his thin, run down body to move on. Only once he'd reached the shelter of a few boulders did he stop. Then, with his back ...