I ate a cookie Yesterday and it tasted pretty good. It was a peanut butter cookie. However, it didn’t taste as good as it did  in the 1930’s. Times were hard then, and sugar was just one of the rationed items but the one we kids missed the most. There wasn’t enough sugar to bake very often. When Mama brought out the rolling pin, I knew she was about to make cookies!  The very aroma carried from the oven to me was delicious.

First, she divided the cookies into two piles, Then she wrapped the one pile very carefully, put in a note, and wrote on the top, ” For one Sailor Boy in the Navy of the United States”. The rest of the cookies were put in the cookie jar, except for the one she handed to me. Oh, the wonderful taste of that cookie! I hoped the Sailor Boy would enjoy his cookies as much as I did. Mama always sent cookies to the men in the Navy because my Daddy served there during World War I.

It’s the same as going to church. I remember one guy, his name was Orin, who came to Daddy’s church every Sunday, hitch-hiking 50 miles to do it! He told my Daddy how much it meant to him, and that he would bring every bit of the service back to his family. Daddy was the pastor of the church and he would often say, “I guess when it’s easy to get to church, it’s easy to stay home.”

That is true with everything. When we have a difficult time to do things or go anywhere it means so much more to us when we are able to do it. So. why not remember the 30’s and Orin and get out that Bible to read, and go to church this Sunday. You never know when you can’t do these things!

Our family has three birthdays quite close together so we decided to celebrate all of them yesterday by walking along the Columbia River Walk. However, walking is rough for me so I was riding on my scooter. At one point I stopped my scooter to watch the boats on the river.  At another I watched my kids and grandkids walking a little ahead of me. No one was talking much and we were just looking at the river and reading the signs telling of the history before our city of Vancouver was born.  We are together and are family and saw one another often so there wasn’t much need for talking. We bring everyday news to my son in New Mexico so he too feels close to all of us. My daughter and her husband will be visiting him soon.

Now, why am I telling you about my family staying close? Well, it’s because I don’t think any of us stay close enough to our Father who is in heaven. He has given us a book without error where He tells us how we are to live. You may have a black, red or white Bible in your home but that might be the only thing familiar to you because you have to dust it every once in awhile. Why don’t you pick it up and read one of the Old Testament stories, such as Moses taking the children of Israel across the Red Sea on dry land! Or Abraham almost sacrificing his son. How about a reading of the baby, Jesus, born in a barn in a terrible time in history.

The people living at that time and written about in our Bibles were not always good. You will read about many dishonorable, even crazy things they did, which will give us some comfort when we do some dumb things today.

Anyhow, we should be as close to our Bible as to our family. Pick it up today and know more than its cover. Really read it and keep it close. Remember, it is God’s love letter just to you.