The Storyteller | Mary Vee

On my trip to Israel, I met several wonderful Christians in my tour group. One night, one of them shared his testimony. It is a story of God's passionate love for all the lost souls. Grab a cup of coffee and read what Gary has to share. I am Redeemed and Free Indeed   Gary in Jerusalem - Photo by Mary Vee My name is Gary Spillman and this is my testimony to God's glory. I grew up without a father. There were a lot of wannabe substitutes for him, except for Bob Spillman who adopted all six of my mother’s children before having one of his own with her. I felt like he would be the one to help me grow up into a man, but the Lord took him with cancer less than two years after being married to my mom. With no father, again, and being sexually abused by my older brother and sister at age nine, I pretty much gave up on God. A God who allowed all that stuff to happen to me was a God I didn't want! Jesus loves me... Right!    At the age of twelve,

Confession-This post is one day late. You may not have noticed, but I did. It's the crazy planner in me.  Confession-I only feel a tad guilty because yesterday a project leaped forward...I'm talking the distance of the Sahara Desert leap. I'll tell you about the project in a moment. First let's chat about leaps. Spring time is planting time. A time to move forward with projects. No matter what your ability is or your limitations are, this is a time to get something done then celebrate the progress or completion. I know. Sleeping in sounds good. I know, it's nice to sit back and watch a TV program. But, let me tell you about the fireworks that burst inside  when a project is moving forward. It doesn't take much. Plant a seed, pat the dirt over the opening, pour water to wake the seed from sleep. Next day, water the seed again and keep weeds from stealing nourishment from the soil.  Did you know a smile pokes on your face when you're working on

When I was young, there was a lady in my church named Juanita who had a sweet soprano voice. You know the kind, the sound that a young trained soprano makes. Not harsh or overly powerful. Juanita was my parent's age. So when I was young, I thought she was old. It always surprised me that no matter how old I became, her singing voice never took on that harsh, older sound that happens to many sopranos. And her voice never deepened, as happens to some sopranos in later years. She loved to sing at church and it showed. I loved hearing her sing. Then one day, I learned that Juanita was tone deaf.  No. Couldn't be. I knew music pretty well and could easily pick out a singer who struggled to stay on pitch. She  never had that problem. But she really was tone deaf. She had an arrangement with the music director whereby he would tell her far enough in advance when she was scheduled to sing for a church service. She then met with someone (I really don't kno

It's difficult for me to imagine what the Garden of Eden looked like. I have seen so many beautiful gardens both natural and tended by man. But none of them had lions, coyotes, or giraffes roaming.  Photo by Mary Vee (representing Eden is this view from the Mount of Beatitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee) The Bible tells us a bit about that garden. Adam and Eve didn't have to weed. There were edible plants and trees baring fruit. God walked with Adam and Eve, talking with them. Teaching them. Listening to them. Soliciting their opinions and discussing with them. All of time was perfect. Until they ate fruit from the one tree God said not to eat. You know what happened from there. The sin committed, the deceiver revealed, the punishment proclaimed, and the first announcement, made by God, that a Redeemer would come. Fast forward thousands of years to a different garden. One most likely located south of the first garden by one hundred or so miles. Th

Photo by Mary Vee, Amman, Jordan 9 Days until Easter Today I will take you to the land of Jordan. The capital city is Amman. We stayed one night in the city in a hotel specializing in hospitality for tourists. It had all the amenities of four or five star hotel.  After breakfast the next morning, we traveled north to a town called Jarash. Our guide took us to a place where we walked up a hill. From there we walked through this gate. Our guide showed us ruins of two temples one for Zeus and one for Athena/Diana. In between the two temples was a theater. After the explanation of the architecture and ruins, our guide let us walk around the area. We had fun climbing the steep hills, walking through Roman and Greek columns, then on the way up to the farther temple, something happened that made me stop. Photo by Mary Vee - Jarash, Jordan Down the valley and up a higher hill a ways to the right, the call for prayer came from a mosque speaker. The sound permeated the a

12 days to Easter. This particular coming Easter is already proving to be more personal to me. The trip to Israel awakened and illuminated God in ways I could not have experienced otherwise. Perhaps I can help you just a bit. My goal is to provide sensory images to help you engage in remembering what God has done for you.  Because He loves you. Let's start with a ride on the Sea of Galilee.  The water smelled like lake water with a bit of fishy. I would best compare it to Lake Michigan in scent because I have been there.  The Sea of Galilee is not huge. At the time of translations there wasn't a distinction between a sea and a lake. Only one word was used for both. Watch the video again and imagine stepping out of the boat we are riding in and walking on the water. Imagine seeing Jesus appearing from the fog or storm clouds walking on water. Imagine nets so full of fish that reeling them in cause the boat to take on water. Imagine bein