What Jesus did for Me

What Jesus did for me

(I can’t imagine)

I can't imagine love so true

Mercy abundantly
Giving me a life anew
What Jesus did for me.

I can't imagine love so strong
That gives me liberty
Bound to right instead of wrong
What Jesus did for me.

I can't imagine how He died
He suffered on Calvary.
Raised on the cross and crucified
What Jesus did for me.

I can't imagine how He prayed
On earth, such humility

Then in a tomb, His body laid

What Jesus did for me.

I can’t imagine that He cared

He is God – equality!

Because of Him, my life is spared

What Jesus did for me.

I can’t imagine how He saw

My pride, my vanity

Yet He who was without a flaw

What Jesus did for me.

I can’t imagine how he cried

When He saw into me

Yet took me in, His arms held wide

What Jesus did for me.

By Netagene Kirkpatrick, April 24, 2016.

I was blessed to get to attend the Texas Normal Singing School in Abilene, Texas, July, 2018, thanks to being awarded a scholarship. Other friends paid my airfare. Two of my 5 classes were hymn writing (song lyrics) and Finale (the music notation program used by most composers from one person to a full orchestra, etc.). In part of hymn writing, the teacher Randy Daw told us to choose a poem, psalm, etc., original or from anywhere, and write a melody to it. I had this poem with me. Randy liked it. I was able to write a tune for it, using no keyboard, etc., just simply free-hand. The next day, he told us to write a bass line. I had a fairly simple one in mind but because Randy had guest composers there 2 or 3 times, we didn't have enough time. He, and James Tackett, the teacher of the Finale class, quickly put a bass line into Finale (which I had on my laptop), plus typed in 4 verses (also into Finale). About 30 minutes before the Thursday night chapel, Randy told me that my song (and 3 others from the class) was going to be performed!

All my poems, etc., part 2

If you are coming to this late, and seeing a lot of things that I call Facebook Poems, there is a reason/excuse. About mid-June, I hadn't posted anything anywhere, nor texted anyone, and I don't like to talk on the phone ... so I decided that, when I can, which is almost every day unless the internet is down or I am out of town and do not have access, that one of the first times I'll do each day is write something - usually a poem - on Facebook. I label it simply "Facebook poems", though they cover a lot of subjects. I am labeling THIS note with all the labels I have used. That way, if you click on some label/subject that you think you might find interesting, everything I've labeled as such will show up on this blog. Thanks for reading what I write. I hope that you get a smile, or a laugh, or some encouragement, or that they make you think, etc. Feel free to comment on things I write, too. Thanks. (I am having to post this twice so as to show all the labels that I've made!)

Thanks

... to my new friends for commenting on my writings! I hope you will continue to read what I think about, and are encouraged by it. I had quit posting for awhile but plan to do more of it. Thanks again!

Good Things!

I just read about a new book that sounds "soul searching": "One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are" by Ann Voskamp. It's about having a journal even when times are darkest - lose a job, real sick, someone passes from this life, you think you can't go on, etc. - and writing 5 good things that happen to you each day. You DON'T write: "he's still in a coma", "I fell again", "she doesn't understand", "I'll never lose weight", "neighbor's dog pooped on my yard", etc.

You write only positive things. It might be as simple as "the sun came up today", "I can see", I have food to eat", "the cashier smiled at me", etc. If things are really dark, you still try to find something good, remembering that some people don't have enough food, others are blind or lame, etc.

Maybe I need to start such a journal. I can no longer drive, but I can walk; I no longer see well, but I still have usable sight; I have more than enough food ... and so on.

And as I Thessalonians 5:18 says: "In everything, give thanks ..." And if the apostle Paul can call being shipwrecked, stoned, left for dead, etc., as "light afflictions" (II Corinthians 4), who are we to complain?

CRYING

I don't cry easily, though sometimes I wish I could. But one thing always chokes me up so bad I can't speak and I even have trouble breathing. That is when someone is baptized for the forgiveness of their sins.

This morning, an elderly lady was baptized. All I remember is that her first name is Nancy. Steve preached a good sermon, as usual, about discipline, and today's was about the discipline of teaching. When the invitation song was sung, Ms. Nancy and a younger lady, I guess her daughter, walked to the front. I'm sure they already had planned to do so, because the sermon wasn't one to really cause someone to decide to become a Christian - it was more of an encouraging sermon for those of us who already are Christians.

I think it was the first time that Ms. Nancy, the younger lady, and a younger gentleman visited the church I attend. Turns out the younger couple was from Georgia. Ms. Nancy lives in Aliceville, a small town about 2 hours' drive SW of Birmingham. She'd recently had surgery here in Birmingham. She stated that she wanted to be SURE that she was baptized for the right reason - not to join some church, but to meet with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and have her sins washed away by His blood.

Of course it is always so touching when anyone decides to obey God (Mark 16:16) but even more so when an older person obeys.

And I cried and could not sing the closing songs.

The angels rejoice when one person is saved.

CRUMBS from GOD's TABLE

I twisted the meaning of Matthew 15:27 yesterday because I'd rather be called a "crumb" than a "dog", as the verse actually says. I wrote this poem today, using that same verse.

I may not always get what I think that I should.
I may get what I think is mere fluff,
'til I remember that God's blessings still shower me,
And the crumbs from His table's enough.
Moses chose hardship to follow the Lord,
Rather than an Egyptian lifetime of ease (1),
And Daniel, in prison, obeyed God's commands (2),
Knowing it's God, not the king, he should please.
I may think I should be rich in this world's goods,
With a car and a house and fine clothes,
But whatever God gives me, I know will suffice.
I'll accept whatever favor He shows.
Some think they can warm by the devil's fire (3).
Unlike Peter, they think they are tough.
But I'd rather a spot by the Master's side,
'cause the crumbs from His table's enough.
What I think will not matter when I'm finished here.
My "good deeds" will be gone in a puff.
So while here, I'll be thankful for my blessings from God -
Even crumbs from His table's enough.
When life gets hard, and I'm down in the dumps,
Thinking no one has had it so rough,
Then I think of the Christ, who died for my sins,
Then the crumbs from God's table's enough.

1: To some, what Moses chose would have been "crumbs" compared to a life of ease and abundance if he had chosen to stay and be a prince of Egypt, considering that he had been taken as a baby from the river by the king's daughter (Hebrews 11:24-25). 2: Daniel chose to follow the strict Mosaic dietary laws rather than eat the rich food that the king offered him (Daniel 1:10-16; see also Psalm 141:4). 3: Peter chose the easy way out rather than to suffer, though of course he later regretted it, and repented (Mark 14:66-68, Luke 22:54-57).

I also thought of the old Jimmy Dean recitation: "I'm drinking from my saucer 'cause my cup has overflowed".

- by Netagene, April 27-28, 2010 -

THANKS

Thank you for occasionally reading what I write. I hope you get encouragement, or hope, or a laugh, or read something that makes you think or makes you study your Bible, or ... Feel free to share it with others. You can post a comment, and you can email me. You can get to the email link when you read my complete profile.

THANKSGIVING BURGERS

Mother is 92 and lives 2 miles from me. My nephew got me about 10 a.m. and brought me home about 3. He fixed burgers, but not just any burgers. He ground some beef tips with Vermont sharp cheddar and McCormick hamburger spices, and cooked them in a cast iron skillet with little cocktail sausages, letting all the juices blend. Cornbread with butter and sorghum, and iced tea to drink! Um-um, good! With the cornbread, we did not need any dessert. Because he cooked, Mother and I did the dishes, then Mother and I dug around in an old cabinet, scrounging for the few ornaments she still has, many which she made. She wants a Christmas tree this year. We finished with Mother and me both settling in with something to read. She now reads large print books, which my sister gets from the library. Like me, in addition to the Bible, she prefers the light romance novels and westerns by Christian writers. I am thankful that her mind is still good, and that she still enjoys reading, and I am thankful that I have a nephew who enjoys cooking, and for burgers and cornbread for Thanksgiving!

"I HAVE Everything!"

This morning, Steve preached about being thankful. He read this: "When the late author Erma Bombeck was struggling with breast cancer, she met 8-year-old Christina who had cancer of the nervous system. Erma asked the child who was bald due to chemotherapy what she wanted for her birthday. Christina thought hard for a moment, then said, “I don't know. I have two sticker books and a Cabbage Patch doll. I HAVE everything!”

I am THANKFUL

… for the best parents anyone could have …
… that my parents and grandparents were Christians …
… for friends …
… that I live in the United States of America where I can worship as GOD commands …
… that I have more than enough food …
… for heat in the winter and air-conditioning in the summer …
… that I have a roof that does not leak, over my head …
… for indoor plumbing and hot water …
… for clean, whole (not “holey”) clothes …
... that I have a job ...
… for good health, and …
… for God’s gift of knowledge to doctors when my health isn’t good …
… for the ability to think and to read and to write down thoughts such as these.

- by Netagene, November 20, 2007 -