National Plan Your Epitaph Day

Today is

National Plan Your Epitaph Day!

Sounds a bit morbid, I guess

But when you think about it

Don’t you want to have a say in your final words here on earth?

What do you want to leave with loved ones, friends and strangers?

Words of Wisdom

Words of Wit

Words of Warning

Words of Praise

Classic sayings such as

Gone, but not forgotten

In Loving Memory of

Forever in our hearts

Too well loved to ever be forgotten

Everlasting life through Christ

Loving memories last forever

Ours for a little while, with Jesus forever

Or funny

I was somebody.
    Who, is no business
    Of yours

Or witty

Lester Moore was a Wells, Fargo Co. station agent for Naco, Arizona in
the cowboy days of the 1880′s. He’s buried in the Boot Hill Cemetery in
Tombstone, Arizona:

 Here lies Lester Moore
    Four slugs from a .44
    No Les No More

John Penny’s epitaph in the Wimborne, England, cemetery:

Reader if cash thou art
In want of any
Dig 4 feet deep
And thou wilt find a Penny

On a grave from the 1880′s in Nantucket, Massachusetts:

Under the sod and under the trees
Lies the body of Jonathan Pease.
He is not here, there’s only the pod:
Pease shelled out and went to God

Oops! Harry Edsel Smith of Albany, New York:

Born 1903 – Died 1942
Looked up the elevator shaft to see if
the car was on the way down.
It was.

In a cemetary in England:

   Remember man, as you walk by,
    As you are now, so once was I,
    As I am now, so shall you be,
    Remember this and follow me.
        – To which someone replied by writing on the tombstome:
To follow you I’ll not consent,
Until I know which way you went

Bible verses

Be thou faith unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. 
Revelation 2:10

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. 
11 Tim.1v:7

Well done, thou good and faithful servant. 
Matthew 25:21

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 
Matthew 5:4

Or wise

Live so that when the final summons comes you will leave something more

behind you than an epitaph on a tombstone or an obituary in a newspaper.
Billy Sunday quotes 

What will you leave behind?

I’m thinking my epitaph shall read

This world was not my home
I was only  passing thru
I only worked here part-time!

Gravestone for my Grandparents
William Caswell Cheek b.1870 d.1920
Carrie Belle Finley Cheek b.1875 d.1952

Walking By Faith

Let your Faith be bigger than your Fear

Bad news

Job loss

Unexpected bills

Sickness and disease

Rebellious children

Aging parents

Dying

Living

All these things can fill you with fear

But God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of love, power and a sound mind!

Franklin D. Roosevelt in his first inaugural speech said

“Only thing we have to fear is fear itself”

We often dwell on our fears and they keep growing and growing

We have to choose to let Faith take control of our minds

Quit dwelling on the negative

Speak the Word

Say it aloud

Hear it

Listen

Obey

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you…” (Isaiah 43:1-2)

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27)

And He Shall Supply All Our Needs

How often do we forget that God daily loads us with benefits?

Time after time

Our needs are supplied

More often than not

Our wants are satisfied, too

I’ve often sung the old song

He’ll Do It Again

You may be down and feel that God has somehow forgotten
That you are faced with circumstances you can’t get through
Right now it seems that there’s no way out and you’re going under
But God’s proven time and time again He’ll take care of you!

And He’ll do it again
He’ll do it again
Just take a look at where you are now and where you’ve been
Well hasn’t He always come through for you
He’s the same now as then
You may not know how
You may not know when
But He’ll do it again! 

We’ve been having some challenges lately

Not big by many standards

But any challenge you face seems large

When it is up close and personal

BUT

Every time God has supplied

Every time the money has been available

Every time it all worked out

I’d like to tell  you that I didn’t worry

I’d also like to tell you that I didn’t fret

I can’t

I worried

I fretted

I trusted God

Then I worried some more

I fretted some more

I gave it all to God

And I took it all back again

I prayed

I whined

I shed a few tears

And when it was over

I thanked Him

I asked for forgiveness

I asked Him to help me trust Him more

From the start

All the way to the ending

Without wavering

Without doubting

Because I know

He’ll Do It Again….and again….and again

Philippians 4:19
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

My Life Is A Reality Show!

Real

I want to be real before my God, my family and my friends

What you see is what you get

I don’t want to be one way at church

And something entirely different at home

I refuse to put on my “religious” face around my church family

And live like the devil in my own home

Some have accused me of not being spiritual enough

Because I don’t have their brand of religiosity

Because I like to laugh and enjoy the silly moments in life

Because I don’t place myself on a spiritual throne and cast stones

I will not apologize to the HTT (holier than thou) crowd for loving God

And enjoying the life HE has given me

I don’t always hit the mark

But God’s mercy is new every morning

I get up and run at it again

Though I fall I shall stand

God loves me as I am but loves me in such a way as to not leave me there

If you want to see someone looking pious and sanctimonious

You are gonna have to look somewhere else

This chick is REAL