Coffee With Pat Ministries

 

 

Psalm 91

 ¹ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

 ² I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

 ³ Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.

 ⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,  and under his wings you will find refuge;  his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

 ⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,  nor the arrow that flies by day,

 ⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,  nor the plague that destroys at midday.

 ⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,  ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

 ⁸ You will only observe with your eyes  and see the punishment of the wicked.

 ⁹ If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the LORD, who is my refuge-

 ¹⁰ then no harm will befall you,  no disaster will come near your tent.

 ¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you  to guard you in all your ways;

 ¹² they will lift you up in their hands,   so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

 ¹³ You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;  you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

 ¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;  I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

 ¹⁵ He will call upon me, and I will answer him;  I will be with him in trouble,  I will deliver him and honor him.

 ¹⁶ With long life will I satisfy him  and show him my salvation.”

Part 4

“What Was That?

What was that thing that just walked passed me? Four legs, but big… It doesn’t sound like I do….

Here we are the first morning in Louisiana and it is again time for Cali and me to go for our morning walk. Cali says, “no problem, I am use to these nice walks, and everyone that sees me just loves me.” When we got outside I will tell you she was not as secure about this walk as she thought she was.

Even though my sister Ruby lives on a big farm, I knew not to let Cali outside without her leash. I needed to walk her. Why? Well, about 100 feet in back of the house is the Beouf River, in which Cali would have taken a swim, or gone fishing. Then on one side of the house, pastures, and the other fields that go on forever.

 

JB and Ruby Ratcliff’s farm goes on from all directions. From pastures, to the Break or Bayou to the River.

Mama Hunter loved her petunia’s… I bet she has them all over and around her mansion in Heaven…

This picture of mama sitting outside… See, Cali could have run forever, and forever, and forever……

I remember the last time we took Sara and Katie to Louisiana, and Joe was packing the car for us to come home.  Sara and Katie decided they wanted to go cow pie stomping in the pasture. (more like rolling in the cow pies.)  Oh, my did they smell bad after they rolled around in a few cow pies before Anna and Joe got them out of the pasture. So they had to give both them a bath with the water hose. They did not like it because they are use to a warm shower in the house, not a cold water outdoor hose bath.

Boy, did we smell bad after going cow pie stomping…

Do you know what Cali would have done if I had just let her out to walk herself? I probably would still be looking for her. She runs fast, and explores everything. Hummmmm… Maybe not?

We walk out into the beautiful sunshine and the first thing Cali does is see the cows all coming towards her. Of course they are in a fenced pasture, but she does not realize that there is a fence between her and them. She sees the cows and hears the donkeys and that is all it took. She did a fast u turn right between my legs almost pulling me to the ground, trying to get back in the house. It did not take her long to decide whatever those things are, I do not want anything to do with them. Ruby, Iris and I were laughing so hard they we almost had to go inside and change clothes and take a bath ourselves.

Run Grandma Run

Look at those Monsters

Anyway, I will let you know I can move faster than I thought I could, because Cali pull me into the house. That day she walked me, I was not walking her. Forget the Dog Whisperer, and who is suppose to be the leader of the pack. Cali decided fast she was the leader of the pack and we were getting the heck out of Dodge and fast.

Cali ran right through Ruby’s open front door and right to our bedroom.  She was not going to get involved with anything that was bigger then she was at the time, and she did not care what I said it was.

Aunt Ruby, Aunt Iris and Grandma, Hide. Aliens have landed.

I got her settle down and explained Cali, those are just cows and donkeys, they will not hurt you if you stay beside me. I will protect you. She seemed to be listening to me, taking in every word, not sure if I knew what I was talking about.

 

                                                     

Are you sure you know what you are talking about grandma????

Ok, if you say so, I will try it one more time this outside thing, but no promises. Just hang on Granny, because if one of those things come towards me, we are out of here…….

Well, I got her back out side, this time her letting me be the leader of the pack staying close behind. She watched the cows and donkeys closely, and soon figured that maybe I knew what I was talking about.

 Here are my new friends…

Okay, maybe they are okay. I will stay on this side of the yard under the protecting of grandma Pat. She will protect me….

Anyway, the morning excitement gave us a good laugh, but also taught us all a lesson that we discussed as we ate a hearty breakfast.

You know, that is how it is with God and us. Sometimes we step out of His will thinking that we can take care of ourselves, then all of a sudden, a cow (satan) comes along and tries to scare the mess out of us. He tries to stomp us in the ground. And sometimes he does succeed to the point that we are afraid to step out again and try once more something that God wants us to do, but maybe the first time we were out of God’s timing. We were on our time, and we fell.  But God’s forgives our shortcomings. He picks us up an sets us back on the right path. He shows us that if we will stay close to Him that He will protect and watch over us. For He will give His Angels guard over us, and we will be sheltered under His almighty wings.

See, this is what Cali realized. Stay close to Grandma and everything will be okay…

 

You should have been there. Homemade biscuits, homemade jelly, molasses, sorghum syrup, honey, whatever you have a taste for,  along with bacon, sausage, eggs, and milk gravy.  Yes, diet, out the window you go today.

And yes, I helped cook. Ruby made the gravy and I did the rest, except for the jelly and jams, in which my brother Bill and Ruby have fun putting up every year during jelly season. Bill will come over from Florida, and they get in the kitchen, talk, and they use everything in the icebox, garden, and grocery store to make jelly. I tried some of there cactus jelly, but I like the watermelon rind preserves best of all.

Oh, be praying for my brother Bill. He has been preaching God’s word and sharing the gospel for over 40 years. He is a preacher in DeFuniack Springs, Florida. He has been preaching at a once small church for less than a year. They are growing in leaps and bounds. They have already started getting ready to build a new church building. They are not wasting any time. They hope to have the building completed within a year. They need the place. And of course, Bill has always been a church planted and grower in all the churches he has pastored. I do not remember one church that the walls have not bulged beyond capacity within a short time after he became their Pastor.

Bill and I are a lot a like in many ways when it comes to church growth. We still believe you have to go out and bring them in….

I got a good laugh at Ruby one morning. She decided she wanted  some sorghum on her biscuits, and informed me of it, which surprised me because she usually does not eat a lot of sweets early in the morning. Her blood sugar will bottom out so she is careful. She has low blood sugar.

We sit down, she grab up a jug, which the word on the jug did not say syrup, it said honey. I thought, well maybe she changed her mind. Anyway she put a pile of honey all over her two buttered biscuits. Just as she started to take a bite, I said, “Ruby, I thought you were going to eat some syrup today.” She informed me that what was on her biscuit. I informed her that it was not, and guess what her first bite I could have made a bundle if I had been a betting woman, but I am not…..  LOL

What a surprise to her pallet. It is like going into a restaurant ordering sweet tea, and getting un-sweet tea by mistake.

Oh, this is just not company breakfast. This is an everyday routine, if more than one person is in the house. Ruby tells all her company, to make yourselves at home. People have a good time and always want to go back.

Again, we need to stop, and be watching over the things that God has assigned to us. We need to stay in a prayful state of mind so if we happen to pick up honey instead of syrup, be will know that we know that God will be there to give us a clean start, (pallet.)  See, we may have again thought that something we were doing was just what God wanted for us. The honey tasted good for a while, but then our pallet started tasting a bitter taste when we realized that we just messed up in our change of schedule. We took a path at the wrong time.

But, dear friends, God will straighten things out for you. In His timing, and His way, He will bless  you, and lift you back up, because it will be His time for the purpose in your life.

Get ready, for God is fixing to do a new work in you, and ME!!!!!

Remember do not work so hard trying to accomplish something that is out of God’s timing. Just take a step back, stop, take time to rest, and enjoy what God has in store for us….

Boy, I must have been tired…

Cali had an exciting first day at Aunt Ruby’s and  played so hard and chewed her bone that she went to sleep right in the middle of Aunt Ruby’s floor.

Thank you Aunt Ruby for letting me come and visit you.

Monday devotion, get ready for Crawfish Pie, Jambalaya, Filet Gumbo…. Ice Cream and Hunter’s Chapel.