'Tis the Season for Alligator Hunting

Hey Ya'll!!
I apologize for the sporadic posting.  There's been many exciting things happening, one of which I'm about to tell you. Enjoy.
A man in our church, Robert, has a youtube channel, and my sister has been viewing his videos for a while. He has videos of him hog hunting, deer hunting, and alligator hunting. My sister really wanted to go alligator hunting, and he offered to take us. My mother filled out the form for a hunting permit online, and not long after that, two tags arrived in the mail, along with all the paperwork. Two tags = 2 gators. How exciting is that!
On August 15th, my parents, Sarah, and I drove to a lake 90 miles north of where we live and met Robert and his wife. (In case you were wondering where Lauren and Deborah were, they stayed with our neighbor.) We loaded up in the boat and set out to catch our first gator. WPTV Channel News 5 joined us to record the first catch of the season. At 5:00, the season officially opened. {{Now the real fun begins. ;) }}
After casting the bait and waiting a while, a gator finally came up and swallowed it. Sarah started reeling in the line. Robert hit it with a harpoon once it was pulled up beside the boat, but that doesn't kill it. Sarah then killed it with a bang stick, and the 8 foot gator was pulled into the boat. She tagged the gator right away and it was officially hers. :) {{Cheers for Sarah!!!}} Sarah was even asked by the news reporters if she would do an interview with them once we drove back to the dock. If you'd like to view a video, click on this link.

 The fat 8 foot male alligator Sarah caught.

  On Friday, August 19, Daddy, Sarah, Lauren and I met up with Robert and his nephew to go catch another gator. And this time, we determined it was going to be a bigger one than 8'. :D

Sure enough, we ended up snagging a 10'8" gator!  This time I killed it with the bang stick. Well, I should say I shot it with the bang stick, but the gator wasn't fully dead when we dragged him into the boat.

After arriving at the dock, we set the gator up to take some pictures. We even put it back in the water to take some cool photos. 

And so ended the exciting adventure of our gator hunting. Would I do it again? Oh yes. Most definitely. (And Sarah would too. :)

 

Have you ever gone gator hunting? For that matter, have you ever gone hunting of any kind? I'd love to hear about your adventures.  :-) Leave a comment below!

Psalms 1:1-6

Howdy ya'll!

August 1st-5th, Sarah and I went with our church youth group to the Wilds Camp in North Carolina. 
Will Galkin was the speaker for this year, and he preached some amazing messages.
The last message was especially good. It was on Psalms chapter 1.
Psalms 1:1-6
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Every time someone talks, they give counsel and you give counsel. Be careful to not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. Don't stand in the sinner's way.  If you do, there will be consequences. The future consequences of sin always outweigh the moment of pleasure, so don't walk in the way of the ungodly.
How do you get spiritual happiness? Well, there must be a separation of evil and a saturation of the Word. You should delight in it.  What you delight in is what you seek. And what you delight in is what you'll speak. A person who delights in God's Word will pursue it. A person who delights in God's Word will speak it.
Verse 2 says "But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night." The word meditate is like murmur. Meditate day and night on the Word. You can enjoy Christ. He's sweet! There's nothing that can take the place of God. A person who wants God will make time for God. Do you want God? If so, you will make time to spend with Him. You'll make time to pray, meditate and read the Word.
What is spiritual happiness? Spiritual happiness is the ability to bear fruit. Vs. 3
It could be that the people who have the most access to God are the ones that don't know and read it. KNOW Jesus through the Bible. LOVE Jesus. Say no to sin and yes to Christ.
God knows the way of the righteous and will preserve them. But the way of the ungodly will perish.

May you all have a good and godly week!
Yours truly on the Victory side,
Ashley

Safe in the Arms of Jesus

Safe in the Arms of Jesus:

By: Fanny Crosby

Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on His gentle breast,

There by His love o'ershaded, sweetly my soul shall rest.

Hark! 'tis the voice of angels, borne in a song to me. 

Over the fields of glory, over the jasper sea.

Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe from corroding care,

Safe from the world's temptations, sin cannot harm me there. 

Free from the blight of sorrow, free from my doubts and fear;

Only a few more trials, only a few more tears!

Jesus, my heart's dear Refuge, Jesus has died for me;

Firm on the Rock of Ages, ever my trust shall be. 

Here let me wait with patience, wait till the night is o'er;

Wait till I see the morning break on the golden shore. 

On March 5, 1858, Fanny Crosby married Alexander Van Alsteine. A year later, a child was born to them, though no one knows if it was a boy or a girl. Fanny never spoke about it except in her oral biography, "God gave us a tender babe," and "soon the angels came down and took our infant up to God and His throne." The child's death seemed to have devastated Fanny and she privately bore the sadness all her life. 

~~

Years later, on April 30, 1868, musician Howard Doane knocked on the front door of Fanny's apartment in Manhattan. "I have exactly forty minutes," he said, "before I must meet a train for Cincinnati. I have a tune for you. See if it says anything to you. Perhaps you can commit it to memory and then compose a poem to match it." He then hummed the tune.  Fanny clapped her hands and said, "Why, that says, 'Safe in the arms of Jesus!" She retreated to the other room of her tiny apartment, knelt on the floor, and asked God to give her the words quickly. Within half an hour, she had composed the poem in her mind and dictated it to Doane, who dashed off to catch his train. During her lifetime, "Safe in the Arms of Jesus" was among the most widely sung of Fanny's hymns, and she considered it in a class by itself. She said it was written for the bereaved, especially for mothers who had lost children. Often when comforting a grief-stricken mother, she would say, "Remember, my dear, your darling cherub is safe in the arms of Jesus." Rev. John Hall of New York's Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church told Fanny that her hymn had given more "peace and satisfaction to mothers who have lost their children than any other hymn I have ever known."

Two little girls were playing in a corner of the nursery with their dolls, and singing as they played, '' Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on his gentle breast." Their mother was writing, only stopping now and then to listen to the little ones' talk, unobserved by them. 

"Sister, how do you know that you are safe? " asked Nellie, the youngest.
"Because I am holding Jesus with both my hands —tight !" was the reply. "Ah, that is not safe," said Nellie. "Suppose Satan came along and cut your two hands off!" 

The sister looked much troubled for a few moments, dropped her doll and thought deeply. Suddenly her face shone with joy, and she cried out, "Oh! I forgot! I forgot! Jesus is holding me with his two hands, and Satan can't cut his hands off; so I am safe!"

Thank you, Mrs. Smith, for suggesting this song.  :) 

I hope all you dear friends have a good and godly week. 
Yours warmly on the Victory side, 
Ashley 
John 10:28-29
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.