The Story of Edith Burns: Happy Easter

I received this story through an email on Thursday.

THE STORY OF EDITH BURNS...

Happy Easter !!


Edith Burns was a wonderful Christian who lived in San Antonio, Texas.
She was the patient of a doctor by the name of Will Phillips. Dr.
Phillips was a gentle doctor who saw patients as people. His favorite
patient was Edith Burns.
One morning he went to his office with a heavy heart and it was because
of Edith Burns. When he walked into that waiting room, there sat Edith
with her big black Bible in her lap earnestly talking to a young mother
sitting beside her.
Edith Burns had a habit of introducing herself in this way: "Hello, my
name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Then she would
explain the meaning of Easter, and many times people would be saved.
Dr. Phillips walked into that office and there he saw the head nurse,
Beverly. Beverly had first met Edith when she was taking her blood
pressure. Edith began by saying, "My name is Edith Burns. Do you believe
in Easter?"
Beverly said, "Why yes I do."
Edith said, "Well, what do you believe about Easter?"
Beverly said, "Well, it's all about egg hunts, going to church, and
dressing up." Edith kept pressing her about the real meaning of
Easter, and finally led her to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Dr. Phillips said, "Beverly, don't call Edith into the office quite
yet. I believe there is another delivery taking place in the waiting
room.
After being called back in the doctor's office, Edith sat down and when
she took a look at the doctor she said, "Dr. Will, why are you so sad?
Are you reading your Bible? Are you praying?"
Dr Phillips said gently, "Edith, I'm the doctor and you're the
patient." With a heavy heart he said, "Your lab report came back
and it says you have cancer, and Edith, you're not going to live very long."
Edith said, "Why Will Phillips, shame on you. Why are you so sad? Do
you think God makes mistakes? You have just told me I'm going to see my
precious Lord Jesus, my husband, and my friends. You have just told me
that I am going to celebrate Easter forever, and here you are having
difficulty giving me my ticket!"
Dr. Phillips thought to himself, "What a magnificent woman this Edith
Burns is!"
Edith continued coming to Dr.. Phillips. Christmas came and the office
was closed through January 3rd. On the day the office opened, Edith did
not show up. Later that afternoon, Edith called Dr. Phillips and said
she would have to be moving her story to the hospital and said, "Will,
I'm very near home, so would you make sure that they put women in here
next to me in my room who need to know about Easter."
Well, they did just that and women began to come in and share that room
with Edith. Many women were saved. Everybody on that floor from staff
to patients were so excited about Edith, that they started calling her
Edith Easter; that is everyone except Phyllis Cross, the head nurse.
Phyllis made it plain that she wanted nothing to do with Edith because
she was a "religious nut". She had been a nurse in an army
hospital. She had seen it all and heard it all. She was the original G.I. Jane. She
had been married three times, she was hard, cold, and did everything by
the book.
One morning the two nurses who were to attend to Edith were sick. Edith
had the flu and Phyllis Cross had to go in and give her a shot. When she
walked in, Edith had a big smile on her face and said, "Phyllis, God
loves you and I love you, and I have been praying for you."
Phyllis Cross said, "Well, you can quit praying for me, it won't work.
I'm not interested."
Edith said, "Well, I will pray and I have asked God not to let me go
home until you come into the family."
Phyllis Cross said, "Then you will never die because that will never
happen," and curtly walked out of the room.
Every day Phyllis Cross would walk into the room and Edith would say,
"God loves you Phyllis and I love you, and I'm praying for you."
One day Phyllis Cross said she was literally drawn to Edith's room like
a magnet would draw iron. She sat down on the bed and Edith said, "I'm
so glad you have come, because God told me that today is your special
day."
Phyllis Cross said, "Edith, you have asked everybody here the question,
"Do you believe in Easter but you have never asked me."
Edith said, "Phyllis, I wanted to many times, but God told me to wait
until you asked, and now that you have asked."
Edith Burns took her Bible and shared with Phyllis Cross the Easter
Story of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Edith said,
"Phyllis, do you believe in Easter? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is
alive and that He wants to live in your heart?"
Phyllis Cross said, "Oh I want to believe that with all of my heart,
and I do want Jesus in my life. "Right there, Phyllis Cross prayed and
invited Jesus Christ into her heart. For the first time Phyllis Cross
did not walk out of a hospital room, she was carried out on the wings of
angels.
Two days later, Phyllis Cross came in and Edith said, "Do you know what
day it is?" Phyllis Cross said, "Why Edith, it's Good Friday."
Edith said, "Oh, no, for you every day is Easter. Happy Easter
Phyllis!"
Two days later, on Easter Sunday, Phyllis Cross came into work, did
some of her duties and then went down to the flower shop and got some
Easter lilies because she wanted to go up to see Edith and give her some
Easter lilies and wish her a Happy Easter.
When she walked into Edith's room, Edith was in bed. That big black
Bible was on her lap. Her hands were in that Bible. There was a sweet
smile on her face. When Phyllis Cross went to pick up Edith's hand, she
realized Edith was dead. Her left hand was on John 14: "In my Father's
house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you, I will come
again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be
also." Her right hand was on Revelation 21:4, "And God will wipe
away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death nor sorrow, nor
crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have
passed away."
Phyllis Cross took one look at that dead body, and then lifted her face
toward heaven, and with tears streaming down here cheeks, said, "Happy
Easter, Edith - Happy Easter!"
Phyllis Cross left Edith's body, walked out of the room, and over to a
table where two student nurses were sitting. She said, "My name is
Phyllis Cross. Do you believe in Easter?"

Cake, Ice Cream and Walt Disney

Let's make a cake today. We will start with this white plate. It probably has very little value except in memories to me. It was used for many cakes for my family when I was small. Sunday afternoons after coming home from Sunday School, we would have a large dinner, maybe around three in the afternoon. Then in early evening we would have homemade cake or pie and some ice cream. We had a small room that we called the TV room and we would gather around and watch Walt Disney while enjoying our evening dessert. Does anyone remember the show? Walt Disney himself was the host of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.

Well back to the platter: this cake platter was in a give away box at Mom's stashed under the dining room table back at Christmas time. I just had to be nosy and see what she was getting rid of. A couple things made their way back to North Carolina. So for old times sake, I just had to make a cake on that platter.

Mom usually made a double layer square cake.This cake is a carrot cake.


Then she mixed up her own icing with butter, vanilla flavoring and powdered sugar. If it was a chocolate cake she added cocoa. This is so much better than store bought icing. This one is just vanilla.
















I added a few sprinkles of orange sugar to give it a little color.Nothing fancy, but it was good.

We took it to Julie's for dinner last Sunday, but I couldn't resist serving Rick and I a piece on Saturday night after I made it.

Enjoy a piece of cake and while you do, click on over to Kelli's and visit around a bit.

GOD and GOD ALONE

GOD AND GOD ALONE CREATED ALL THESE THINGS WE CALL OUR OWN.
FROM THE MIGHTY TO THE SMALL, THE GLORY IN THEM ALL
IS GOD'S AND GOD'S ALONE.

GOD AND GOD ALONE IS FIT TO TAKE THE UNIVERSE'S THRONE
LET EVERYTHING THAT LIVES RESERVE ITS TRUEST PRAISE
FOR GOD AND GOD ALONE.

(Words and Music by Phill McHugh)

This is part of a song sung by Steve Green. It came to my mind this morning as I awoke. God and God alone is to be worshipped.

I Love Books/ Show and Tell Friday

And in this corner today, we have books and books and more books. These shelves are full of devotionals, what I would call counseling on different spiritual subjects, study books, Christian fiction, game books, political books, etc, etc. I enjoy reading. My husband says do you really need all these out in the bedroom, why not pack them away? I know if I packed them away I would forget I had them and never look at them again. As it is, they are handy to answer a question. There are scholastic books from when I was in school. Books that I know are clean to read. I am one who if I enjoyed a good book and haven't read it for a while, I like to read it again. Several I have are Christian fiction in a series, like the "Love Comes Softly" series by Jeanette Oke. Of course, our Bibles are there and different reference books.







These are books I am currently reading for relaxation. I just finished the first in the series by Thomas Kinkade and Katherine Spencer "Cape Light". It has been long enough since I read it that I didn't remember what happened and enjoyed it as much as the first time.







When my kids were little we read a lot. I enjoyed spending the time with them. These are some of the books we shared.


Come along and gather round as we share our hobbies and homes at

Discerning the Work of God (TGIF forwarded message)

I had just read this morning Jeremiah the 2nd chapter. This stuck out to me Jer 2:8 "...walked after things that do not profit." and verse 13 "... hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." There is a need to walk after what God directs us to, otherwise there is no profit. As the scripture says, unless the Lord build the house, we build in vain. We need to be workers together with God not for Him. For Him would mean we're doing things for Him but not under His direction. The Bibles says our own righteousness is as filthy rags. Only what He does through us is worth anything.

Then this was the devotion from TGIF today. I love how God pulls in thoughts from different resources to fit into the puzzle of the message He is presenting to us.

Discerning the Work of God
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Wednesday, March 18 2009

"Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, because of what they have done; remember also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who have been trying to intimidate me." - Nehemiah 6:14
Nehemiah set out to rebuild the wall at Jerusalem that had been destroyed. Nehemiah held a position in the Persian Empire that would be comparable to Chief of Staff in our government. Nehemiah wept over the destruction of the city wall and repented for the sins of his generation and the generations before him that had led to the fall of Jerusalem. Nehemiah responded to the news by seeking approval from his superior to take time off to rebuild the wall. Tobiah and Sanballat met Nehemiah's action with resistance, as did Noadiah the prophetess and other prophets. These were the religious and political leaders of his day. They became distractions to his work and opposed him.

Whenever God does a new work, it is often met with resistance by those in the established religious community, and sometimes among those from whom we would expect support. Jesus met the same resistance when He began His public ministry. This same phenomenon happens today. When God begins a new work that cannot be easily explained based upon prior experiences, many make the mistake of assuming it not to be of God. The very people who should embrace and encourage the work become the source of skepticism and opposition. God tells us that His ways are not our ways. He does things in ways beyond our limited understanding.

Before you are tempted to criticize or oppose something that looks different from your past experience, ask God for wisdom and discernment. Examine why you might be tempted to oppose it. The Lord cannot be put in a box. He delights in doing things in ways that may not fit our former paradigms.

Baggu Grosgrain Guest GIVEAWAY!!!!

Baggu Grosgrain Guest GIVEAWAY!!!!

Friday Show and Tell

Today I am sharing several items on my bedroom dresser. To begin with, our bedroom furniture was something that belonged to my Aunt Mary. I hope to refinish it someday. When our children were small, the girls used it. Maybe some of you have some suggestions on how to refinish.

This family is really a bunch of packrats but seeing everything that you ladies share has helped me to try to clear up some areas of my home.


I like to find dainty items when I am out and about.
Here is pretty little vase.


One of my favorite lamps. I turn it on in the morning when I am getting ready for work.



A doily that was a gift

A latern that was a gift from my husband

Unique, round nail clippers that I have had for years. A gift from my mother.



An iron that was used by my grandmother. I have it tagged so no one forgets where it came from.


A stained glass rose that my nephew made

Some of the other items I will share another time. Enjoy your day on Friday browsing with everyone as they share here:

Blessed Weekend

I had some things I wanted to share on show and tell Friday but I can't get my pictures to transfer from my phone like I did before. I couldn't find Lori's camera and besides I had a busy weekend. It was a marathon race at work this week filling in at the AP office since that position is vacant. Saturday was a not busy day at the tax office. Not 1 customer. I took off early to prepare for the singing on Saturday evening. We had been preparing for it by brushing up on songs we had already learned.

There is an old church building that a couple fixed up for singings on Saturday night. Rick met them when he took an Ecoquest purifier there to clean up the musty building. We were invited to sing and have made some new Christian friends. Julie, Clay, Lori, Rick and I sang about 17 songs, mostly as a group but a few solos. Clay had a good solo "What You Took From Me" about being thankful not for what God has given but for what He took away, our sins! The song is a blessing because of the words and Clay does such a good job of putting himself into it and his life backs it up. Julie sang "A Greater Yes", a Whisnant song. It has a great message also about when we pray and don't get the answer we want God has a greater yes. It is a blessing. We had some songs featuring Lori on the verses. She is such a blessing and has a lot of great talents. She plays the piano for us on some songs and also the guitar, which she played Sat. night for a duet she did with Julie. Lori also is a blessing on "He's Taking Care of Me" which we do accapella There was a good Spirit there. I sang the song "God's Been Good" that I shared the words here in a previous post. Rick is certainly a blessing as he leads the group and helps us all to do our best. The Lord certainly blessed him with the air to sing as we shared some old hymns like "O Happy Day" and "I'd Like to Talk It Over". We enjoy singing the arrangement of these as each part comes in at a different time and share a good message. Clay and Julie sang a duet "I'm Happy with You Lord" which has a catchy tune and message: I'm happy with you, are you happy with me. We sang several of our older ones which we have on a CD, "It's not so Hard to Praise Him", "God's Sunshine", "Shepherd in Search of a Lamb", "Special Grace" and "Handful of Weeds" We also shared a few others, "Tell What He's Done", "I Can Make It Through This Test", "There's Not Enough Time Here" and "Lovin' This Livin' For the Lord".

Our pastor, James Baker and his wife Suzanne also sang four songs and did a wonderful job with God's blessing. One he shared was "Somebody's Praying" that he was requested to repeat after an elderly gentlemen testified of how his mother's prayers had taken him through a war. He also sang "The Anchor Holds" and he and Suzanne sang "Roses will Bloom Again."

There were several exhortations brought and it was all just a blessing. In the times that we face, we need each other and I believe we are called upon to encourage and reach out to all people no matter what our backgrounds. People need to get to Jesus and once they get His connection the connection is between each other.

Have a blessed week.

Excellent Ecoquest Meeting

Here is a picture of my husband explaining some Ecoquest products at the Comfort Inn on Saturday. We had a good meeting with 4 interested people and 2 other dealers from other areas that contributed. Rick is really good at teaching how the products work.




Here is a picture of Marv Jackson. He is 80+ and loves working and helping others in this business. He is like the energizer bunny. He is the father of the president of our company. Thanks for your help Marv. I didn't get a picture of Kathy, his wife, but she is so sweet and helpful.



One of the dealers that stopped in is retired from the Air Force and is using this business to help servicemen coming back from Iraq that can't find jobs.

Reading, Relaxing, Recovering on a Snowy Day

I have been doing some reading for the past couple of days. Just relaxing, for me, reading. Work has been taking up so many hours that it has been a long time. On a bookshelf in the bedroom are rows of favorite books. A book by Lori Wick, The Rescue, was a selection that I hadn't read for a while. It is actually the 2nd book in a series called The English Garden. I like these fiction books because they point out how important it is to be saved and to seek a saved companion and scripture is included.

There are 2 points that stick out in my mind in this series. One is the fact that these English characters state that revival came to their area congregation. They may have been "good" people before that, but one by one they came to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It made me pray for some of those that I work with that are in that same category and that a revival may come to them in the same way.

The second thing that actually blessed me as I was reading today was a passage about the main characters' father. Because of the fathers' health, his thinking was not always clear or correct. The daughter was concerned about his salvation. When they were sharing their testimonies of salvation, the conversation came to this: (Quote from the book)
"And your father, Anne?...Did he ever make a commitment?"
"Not that I know of. He was always willing to have my mother read to us from the Bible, but he never yearned for God or studied the Word on his own. Such a lack of interest has never given me much hope."
"We will pray, Anne...If God can break through my stubborn heart, I know He can reach your father, no matter his present emotional state."
... Her father did have moments when he was lucid, and her God was a saving God. Anne knew that she needed to remember this more often.

My prayer and hope is that my own mother, who is slipping into dementia, will make her calling and election sure. She has been a "good" mother but never one willing to talk about the Bible or salvation with me. Also, as we need to remember this as we work with people at the rest home. There have been numerous times when God has dealt with those precious, aging souls.

While I know that fiction cannot be our steady diet and not lifted above the Bible, there are times when the body and mind are tired and we need some relaxation. And I appreciate reading something that also nudges me spiritually.

Farm Chicks Giveaway

Joining in the Farm Chicks Giveaway. Today is an inside day. It is the oddest weather for NC that we have had since we moved here almost 12 yrs ago. It is snowing and slushing and raining. So I am surfing the internet today and found this giveaway. I'll enter just for the fun of it.