Author Archives: joyocala

Henry Alford, (from England) in 1844 wrote the hymn, Come Ye Thankful People, Come. Come, ye thankful people, come,Raise the song of harvest home!All is safely gathered in,Ere the winter storms begin;God, our Maker, doth provideFor our wants to be supplied;Come … Continue reading →

Sometimes life can really through a curve ball. As old as I am, with as many of life’s experiences as I have had, I know my family and friends have had curve balls thrown at them also. Not sure that … Continue reading →

 Have you ever felt that just saying “Thank you” was not enough to express how grateful you felt about something?  I describe that feeling as being overwhelmed with gratitude.  I feel that way quite often.  It makes me want to … Continue reading →

I found this in Wikipedia about November 21: “164 BCE – Judas Maccabeus . . . rededicates the Temple in Jerusalem, an event that is commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah (25 Kislev 3597 in the Hebrew calendar).” … Continue reading →

We always see pictures depicting Jesus as a shepherd and verses to coincide about “feeding the flock,” “the shepherd leaving the flock to search for the lost one.”   He himself is given the title of “the Lamb of God.”  … Continue reading →

(notes from Eugene H. Peterson’s book, “Working the Angles”) Our mostly silent, sometimes spoken out loud communication with God is what we call prayer. Thankfully, there is no end to the possibilities, methods, and even time we give to this … Continue reading →

I am wife, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, cousin, friend, confidant, neighbor and acquaintance.  I have been daughter, daughter-in-law, granddaughter and niece. I was student, teacher, subordinate, supervisor, winner, loser.  I was someone’s pride and joy, and someone’s challenge. I was playmate, … Continue reading →

Gee whiz…in just one week, I was asked to pray for a friend who had discovered a lump and was waiting for her results. Another request was for patience because this man’s timing did not match God’s timing. A third … Continue reading →

When I was young, my mom’s best friend Pearl and her family were a big part of our lives. We celebrated birthdays, holidays, and picnics together and whatever came up, we were there for each other.  Great people, great friends! … Continue reading →

Saul Drier is a 99-year-old Holocaust survivor. He lives in Coconut Beach, Florida. In 2014, Saul organized a band of Holocaust survivors to honor the memory of Alice Hertz-Sommer, the oldest living survivor of that awful time in our history, … Continue reading →