LET THE SUN SHINE IN! 5/20/12

WHEN I WAS a teenager, I remember cleaning the windows in the dining room. There were two small wall cupboards on each side of one of those windows that had two shelves each. These shelves were filled with double rows of books. I am sure I was not the only one that ever had that job, but I loved taking out all those books and dusting them one by one. I used Bon-ami on the windows and was always pleased how the sun would shine in when I was finished. I HAVE often wondered if people still use that for cleaning their windows. Using a clean rag dipped in water, and after rubbing this chalk like bar on it, you would wipe it all over the window. It would dry and leave a cloudy film on the glass. Taking another soft cloth you would wipe it off! Tiny flakes would fall on the window sill and the floor, kind of like dandruff. Easy clean up and the windows would shine! THIS MORNING I took all the curtains down and washed the windows on the inside. Windex and three rags later I washed all but the kitchen and the office windows. The difference between using Bon-ami and Windex is that with the bar you are cleaning the windows and with the liquid you are washing them. I never realized the difference until today! With cleaning you rub on with one rag and wipe off with another. With washing you are merely moving the dirt around leaving a large amount of residue on your rag. I AM NOT complaining because they are cleaner than they were before I started, but they just don’t shine like years ago! A lot of things we have today are just not quite the same as before. Take for instance chrome. Remember how the chrome on the cars would glisten in the sun? Today, you have to look hard to find chrome on a car. How about the glass milk bottles that had about one cup of cream on top for one price. Today, you buy milk in a plastic jug and the cream is in a different container, and you pay separately for them. WHAT GOES around comes around, is a favorite saying of those who were around in the fifties. However, I find that is basically relative to clothing, shoes, hair styles and cosmetics; but not foods, packaging and cars. I tried for years to find a product I used when my children were small. It was called “Whip N Chill”. Oh so good, and so easy! A pudding that set instantly and could be layered on it’s side with rainbow colors or a pie. Now we have instant puddings but they are just not as easy or as good! I found out a few years ago that it had been discontinued in the early 70's! So sad! I AM NOT a person who likes changes! When I liked a pair of shoes I would buy a couple of them and buy them again as they wore out. Today you can’t get the same shoe again because the stores don’t keep them very long. I bought a pair of sandals a couple of years ago and went into Penney’s last summer to buy another! You guessed it; they were discontinued! “JESUS CHRIST is the same yesterday and today and for ever!” Hebrews 13:8 Isn’t that the most comforting scripture in all the Bible! Jesus never changes! He is the same as He was in the beginning. His Word is the same as it was when it was first written. God’s promises have never been altered by Him to fit different circumstances. They meet the needs of all people in all places in all situations. PAUL warns against apostasy when he says; “Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is well that the heart be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not given proper nourishment.” Hebrews 13:9 Pay attention to what the scriptures tell you. Cling tightly and hold fast so that you will become faithful in your devotion to our heavenly Father. LET THE SON shine in by having a strong and steadfast attachment to Jesus Christ. Do not be led astray by the teaching of men. Confirm what you hear, by being in the Word! Jesus sacrificed for us, is it to much to ask for our sacrifice of praise, in acknowledging His name? By Jane Ann Crenshaw 5/17/12