The Vine

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. John 15:5



Each one of us has been given a talent and a gift that we are to use for God. He will direct our paths if we seek Him and His will. Everyone had a part to do that is important. No one is unimportant in God's eyes. If you think that because you aren't a super star that you can't advance the kingdom of Heaven, then you are wrong. God knew you before you were in your mother's womb. He has a plan for each one of our lives. Pray, seek Him and follow His direction. Then God can do a wonderful work through you.

Quiet Time with God

    And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 2nd Corinthians 12:9 KJV

    No matter what you are facing today, if you turn it over to God and rely on His strength and not your own, He will help you carry the load. In fact, He will carry the entire load for you. If it is sickness, financial situations, depression or a broken heart. Nothing is impossible with God. He cares for you so much that He sent His one and only son to die for you.

   I think of my own son and it is unthinkable that I would willingly give him up to die at all, much less to die for something that he did not do. And yet, that is exactly what God did for us. We hear this phrase, "He loves us so much that He gave His only son," that it becomes a cliche'. We loose the meaning of the words. God cares for me and He cares for you.

    One of my favorite verses is" Foot prints in the Sand". I love the line that reads;
   "God, in the darkest times of my life, I look back and there is only one set of footprints in the sand.Why in the darkest times of my life would you leave me?" God replies, "My precious child, I would never leave you, during your darkest times, it was then that I carried you." To me that is so beautiful to know that in our darkest times He will carry us.

    Maybe you feel that you are bound by your circumstances today, you don't have to be. Take some time to enter into His rest and comfort. Get in a quiet place and seek Him through prayer and by reading His Word. Pray and then sit back and be quiet before the Lord, so that He can speak to your heart.

    We are a busy society. Everything is rush, rush, rush. Slow down, take some time to be quiet before the Lord. In His Holy word, the Bible, he says in Matthew 11: 28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

    Bring all your burdens to Him and be amazed at what He can do for you, that you, in your own strength could never do for yourself. We serve an awesome God who wants to know us personally and wants us to fully trust Him. Today is the best day to let go of the baggage, to release it and to be restored.

Trusting and Obeying

1. 

     When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. Isaiah 43:2 NIV



    When we truly sell out to God and give Him what is His, asking Him to take our whole life and use it for His glory, then and only then, can he perform the work through us that He has planned for our lives.
 

    There are so many excuses we can make as to why we want to hang on to this part of our lives or to that part. We don't fully release every part to Christ Jesus, so that He can do a wonderful work through us.


    I was reading the lyrics in an old Baptist Hymnal earlier this evening, the words to the song, "Trust and Obey," struck home to me. trust and obey, for there's no other way to happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.



    Being obedient is not very popular in today's society. We want to do as we please. No limits, no rules, no boundaries. Whatever feels good, is convenient, is fastest to get to what we want, that is the way we like it. Unfortunately, when there are no limits, no boundaries no rules or consequences, then there is chaos. We are starting, to experience the consequences of our selfish lifestyles now in our society.



    Children are rulers over their own parents. Parents are at wit's end, because they don't know what to do with little Johnny and Suzy. They don't understand because they gave them everything they wanted and never let them feel what it was like to loose. Now, they are ungrateful, lazy and disrespectful.



    We are to be obedient to Our Lord Jesus Christ and to His Holy Word, The Bible. There are so many promises that he has for those who keep His commandments. The Bible has plenty to say about how to raise our children. If we follow God's outline in His Holy Word, He is faithful to bless His children. But, it doesn't have to be hard. God will give us the strength we need to follow Him and obey Him if we are faithful to pray and read our Bible everyday.


    There is an enemy that is real, Satan. He wants to steal from us and kill us. We need to be mindful that he would like nothing better than to destroy our families, keep us upset and from doing the will of God. Let the Holy Spirit guide your heart and trust The King of Kings. He said he would never leave us nor forsake us. I love My Lord and Savior and can never thank Him enough for paying my debt at Calvary.


    If you have never accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, please don't wait. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins, believe that He is the son of God and commit your life to Him right now before it is too late.


    There is a real place called Hell. If we don't ask Jesus to forgive our sins and come into our hearts, then that is where we will spend all of eternity. How long is eternity? It never ends. There is nothing more important in this life that is worth spending all of eternity in a devil's hell burning forever.


    God loves you right where you are and there is nothing he will not forgive you for. Ask Him, trust Him and get in a Bible believing Church.

Mystery Island Chapter Four

Mrs. Lowery woke up hoping that her daughter missing, was just a dream. She got out of bed and went to the doorway of Stacey's room. She knew the nightmare was real when Stacey wasn't in there. The fear and pain of not knowing if her own daughter was safe or if she was was hurting or worse was more than she could bear. She began to sob again, falling to the floor in the hallway.Mr. Lowery came to her from the living room. He put his arms around her. He wanted to be strong for her, but inside he was scared out of his mind. Stacey was their whole world. If she is just playing a game with us and hiding at one of her friends house, well, I just want her home and safe. To be able to tell her we love her. He hugged her and they stood in the hallway sobbing together feeling the same pain and terror of having their child missing. He held his wife and tried not to let her see the tears that were falling from the corners of his eyes.




Jake's store was full of locals waiting to form a new plan to search the islands for Stacey. Tina Littleton was one of those people who took charge of situations. She gave the volunteers directions as to how they would comb the island and meet back at Jake's in two hours. They had radios to keep up with any information or leads they found. That way they could keep each other informed over the situation. She asked that everyone join hands in a circle and pray for Stacey and her parents.After they prayed, they all dispersed out into the island to hunt for the missing girl.


Jake was beside himself. “It was that Jesse McMillian. I am sure he had something to do with that Lowery girl missing. Just think about it Claude, everything was fine until he showed up and the very day he did show up Stacey goes missing. I don't understand why Sheriff McCoy isn't investigating that boy. He said that he was going to get a subpoena and question him. What is he waiting on. Something else is going to happen to someone or Marla if he waits too long to act.”


Claude spoke up, “Jake, you have had it in for that boy from square one. Nothing that boy has done points to him to be a suspect. He is just new to the island. That doesn't make him a criminal and besides that we don't know that Stacey is even really missing. You know that girl is always running away from home. She is a troubled teen who is rebellious. She probably is just hiding out to scare Mr. and Mrs. Lowery. She has done that before. I feel sorry for Mr. and Mrs. Lowery. They waited later in life to have kids and all Stacey had been is trouble and heartache to them.




Jesse walked into the store just as Claude finished talking. “Excuse me, Claude, I wanted to ask you a few questions. I am looking for my birth parents. I was given information that they may have lived here on this island. How long have you lived here and have you ever heard of Jessica or Melvin Sanders?”


Jake started coughing. “Who did you say?”


“Jessica or Melvin Sanders. They were my birth parents and I am not sure if they were married. My birth mother may have a different last name if they weren't married.” Jesse said with a pleading look in his eyes. He really was tired of hunting for them and he wanted nothing more than to find some shred of information that would point him to their whereabouts.







Jake found a chair and sat down real fast, like he would have fainted had he not sat in the chair. He was white as a ghost.


“Are you okay, Mr. Carpenter? You don't look so good.” Jesse commented to him.


“You okay, Jake? Do I need to go fetch the doctor?” Claude asked his buddy.


“I will be okay in a few minutes. Just let me sit here a little bit and I will be okay,”


Jake didn't look okay he looked like he might have just had a stroke.


Claude knew what was ailing him, but he kept quiet. “No, I can't recall hearing those names before. Sorry fellow, I hope you find something out that leads you to them.” He said as he patted Jesse on the back.


When Jesse left the store he ran into Sheriff McCoy, “Good, you saved me a ride out to Marla's. I have a subpoena to question you. You can come with me.” Sheriff McCoy said in a cocky, arrogant way.


Jesse didn't resist, he went along with the Sheriff voluntarily without any opposition. The Sheriff took him into the station and told Deputy Smith to start the paperwork for Jesse's questioning. “You can have a seat on that bench over there. Don't try any funny business or I will put you in a cell.”

Jesse sat down on the bench. He didn't act afraid or nervous about being questioned. He knew that he had nothing to do with the girl that was missing. He also knew that the Sheriff and others on the island were judging him for his black attire and the fact that he was new to the island. He heard the peck, peck, peck of the type writer keys as Deputy Smith made out the paperwork. These guys were out to get him, that was for sure. For the first time he thought about the possibility that they might be crooked cops. They may even be framing him for something they knew somebody else had done. His head started spinning and his palms got sweaty.

Marla Applegate came marching into the station with a very well dressed man in a suit who was carrying a suitcase. “Jesse, this is my lawyer, Delvin Banks. He has agreed to take your case. I know these guys are up to no good. I don't trust them. I knew they would try to pull this as soon as you came into town. That is why, I phoned Delvin and had him fly out to the island”

Delvin reached his hand out to shake Jesse's. “Mr. McMillan it is good to meet you. I will be present with you when you are questioned. You don't have to answer anything you don't want to in this preliminary questioning. I willl coach you to not answer some questions so look to me for the go ahead. I need to know exactly when you arrived on the island, any one you can remember who might have seen you and the route you took from the ocean inland.”

Jesse strained to remember everything he could about when he arrived there. He told Delvin everything he could think of. Delvin wrote everything he told him down. “Here, I need you to sign this, stating that this is your statement and you swear it to be the truth.”

Jesse took the pen from him and signed his signature and dated it. “I swear I didn't have anything to do with that girl that is missing. I never saw a young girl when I came here the first day. I would never hurt anyone and I am not a criminal.”

“I believe you Mr. McMillan. The important thing is that we establish a solid case with alibis that prove your innocence.” Delvin said in his lawyer tone.

“He will take good care of you. He is the best lawyer money can buy. Don't worry about anything. This is all going to get cleared up.” Marla said to him as she reached over and squeezed his hand.

“Thank you, Marla for getting your lawyer and everything.” Jesse said with a little nervousness in his voice.

Sheriff McCoy walked back into the station just in time to see Marla squeezing Jesse's hand.
“Well, well. Haven't seen you in a while Delvin. So, you got your hot shot lawyer for your boy toy. I don't think he is going to be able to help your little boyfriend.” Sheriff McCoy said smirking at Marla.

“Jesse is innocent. Delvin will prove it and you can go back to playing checkers in front of Jake's handee Mart.” Marla threw back at him.

“You are really something Marla. Nothing like a bimbo with a lot of money. You can't buy the law. I don't care how much money you have or hot shot lawyers.” Sheriff MCCoy made sure to insult Marla every chance he got. He had come onto Marla during one of her vacations with Lawrence. They had a Bar-B-Q at the mansion and invited everyone on the island so they could get to know them. Sheriff McCoy came onto Marla and she refused him. He thought that she was a bought companion for Lawrence since he was so much older that she was. Sheriff McCoy thought he could get a little piece of the action. Ever since Marla rejected him he had made it his goal to degrade her.

Claude asked Jake, “Are you gonna be okay. I almost fell in the floor when he said your wife's name with her high school sweetheart. You never told me they had a baby together. He must have gotten her pregnant in high school and she gave the baby up for adoption. Did she ever tell you she had a baby when you were married to her?”

“Claude, I can't talk about this right now. I can never stand to think of her and the way she ran away with Melvin. Why did she marry me if she was in love with him, still the whole time. She is like poison to every man that loves her. You can never trust a beautiful woman.” Jake said with defeat all over his face.

“She was a beautiful woman. I know you can't be over her or what she did, leaving you and the girls. It just doesn't make sense the way she left like that.” Claude said more to himself than to Jake.

“I said I don't want to talk about it.” Jake sneered through clenched teeth.

“Okay, okay. I am going to grab a bite to eat at the grill. Can I do anything for you before I go?”

“No, just go!”

As Claude was about to head to the grill out back one of the search groups came running into the store. They were yelling we found her. We found her tied up in a cave out by Coco Cove. She was hungry and scared. She is over at the Docs right now getting checked out. Her parents are there. She doesn't know who did this to her. She said someone hit her in the head and knocked her out as she was walking home from Kayla Morrow's house two nights ago.

Mystery Island Chapter three

Jesse's mother had told him that the only information the social worker gave her at the time of the adoption about his birth parents was that they lived on an island in the Atlantic Ocean. That is why Jesse chose to come here. He didn't know what Island they were from and he had already visited three island's without any luck of finding them. He had a good feeling about finding them here.


The next morning when Jesse woke up he found Natasha serving his breakfast out by the pool.


“Wow, what is all of this? It's a buffet.” Jesse said with his mouth watering at all the delicious food in front of him.


“Mrs. Applegate told me to serve your breakfast here by the pool and she will join you after her morning run.” Natasha dismissed herself leaving Jesse to devour the buffet.


The smell of bacon and the ocean air made this feel like a resort. He filled his plate and sat down at the table. The waves were crashing in off the ocean hitting the rocks along the shore. Seagulls were flying over the sand and darting down at times to find crumbs. The sound of the ocean waves and the freshness of the air was relaxing. As he enjoyed his breakfast he thought about how this was the life and he could get use to living like this. He felt sad and scared for Marla. She was a beautiful woman and there were a lot of people, especially men who would take advantage of her sweetness. Jesse told himself that he was going to try to be a protector while he was staying here. He also wanted to convince Marla to get extra security on her property and herself.


“How's breakfast? Did you sleep well?” Marla said coming from the beach with her black spandex running pants on and hot pink tank top. She grabbed a white towel that was on one of the lounge chairs and wiped the sweat off of her forehead and chest.


“Yes, I slept very well, thank you. Breakfast is unbeleivable. How was your run?” Jesse asked with genuine interest.


“Great. There is something about running that clears my head. It's kind of my therapy.” Marla looked refreshed and relaxed.


“So, have you given any more thoughts to finding your birth parents?”


Jesse was devouring his breakfast.

"Yes, I am going to start my search later today after I finish with the pool and lawn."


“Everyone knows everyone else here. I just cannot imagine that your birth parents still live here. I would think that someone would have mentioned giving up a child by now. I haven't heard anything at the salon. And believe me, those women tell it all in there.” Marla said with a serious look on her face.


“I may not find them, but someone here might know who they were and where they are now. I plan on going to Jake's Handy Mart to ask around.”


Jake Carpenter was restocking his canned food section when Sheriff McCoy came into the store.


“Jake, how's it going? Heard the latest about Marla  letting that punk stay in her cabana?


“No, what is she thinking. That guy looks like trouble to me. I have seen his kind before and there is never anything but trouble around a punk like that. Maybe you should run a check on him or pay Marla a visit to try and talk some sense into her.”


Margaret Lowery came rushing into the store, “Sheriff McCoy, my daughter spent the night with Kayla Morrow two nights ago and she hasn't come home. I thought she was at Kayla's. I called to see when she was coming home and Mrs. Morrow said she left to come home the first night. She said she didn't want to spend the night and was going to come back home. She left about seven o'clock. The island is small. We have called everyone we know and looked everywhere for her. Please, Sheriff McCoy, please help us find her.” When Mrs. Lowery had finished relaying all the information she broke down sobbing uncontrollably.


“Mrs. Lowery, I know this is difficult for you, not knowing where Stacey is right now. We will get to the bottom of this, but I need you to be strong. Do you have a recent picture of her? I need you to take that over to the police station. We need to fill out a missing person's report. I will take you over there.”


“Sheriff McCoy, I think you need to check out where our new island friend was two nights ago. I bet he had something to do with all of this.” Jake said accusingly.


“Jake, I am going to pay Marla a visit as soon as I get done with Mrs. Lowery at the station. Do you want to come along with me to Marla's?”


“I sure do. Let me get one of my girls to watch the store. I will walk over to the station when I get things under control here.”


Jake found his oldest daughter filling orders at the grill. “Nancy, I am going on an errand. I want you to watch the store until I get back.”


“Okay, I need to finish giving out two more orders and I will be there. Where are you going, daddy?” Nancy asked.


“ I am going with Sheriff McCoy to Marla Applegates' house. She is letting that new boy that showed up on the island stay in her pool cabana. We think he had something to do with Mrs. Lowery's daughter who is missing.” Jake thought of how much he loved his three daughters. He would be insane right now if it was one of his girl's missing. They were all he had. His wife had left him years ago for another man. She left him with three girls to raise all alone. They were his whole world.


“Stacey is missing? Daddy, that is so terrible and scary.” Nancy said with a look of fear on her face.


“We don't know if she is just playing a joke on her parents and hiding or if she really is missing. Either way, I think it would be a good idea if we pay Marla a visit and see where her guest was two nights ago.”


Jake walked over to the station just as Sheriff McCoy was coming out of the station. “Hop in Jake.". The two talked about different scenarios as to the whereabouts of Stacey Lowery. Everything they thought of somehow ended with Jesse being to blame.


“Jake this is official police business. I will do all the talking you just keep quiet and listen, okay?” Sheriff McCoy said to Jake like he was a little child.


Jake didn't like the way Sheriff McCoy talked to him, but he just let it go. “Okay, don't worry about me.”


Marla's house was in view now as they were driving down her driveway.


Sheriff McCoy rang the door bell. Natasha answered, “hello, Sheriff, what can I say is the reason for your visit?”


“Just need to ask Marla a few questions.”


“Wait right here and I will get her for you.”


“This place is something. I wouldn't want a mansion on the beach. If a hurricane hit it there would be nothing left.” Jake thought out loud.


“If you had as much money as Lawrence left Marla with, then you would just build again.” Sheriff McCoy said to Jake.


“Sheriff McCoy, Jake, please, come into the living room and have a seat.” Marla said graciously.


“Thank you, Marla. We came out here to check on you. That young fellow you got staying here, well we have reason to believe that he is suspicious. We are worried about your safety having him stay here with you. Mrs. Lowery's daughter, Stacy went missing two nights ago. We are afraid that he had something to do with her missing.” Sheriff McCoy said to Marla.


“Sheriff McCoy. That is the most absurd thing I have ever heard. Jesse is a very nice young man. You shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. I am certain that he had nothing to do with Stacey missing. She is a little rebel. She is probably here on the island just giving her parents heck.” Marla said adamantly.


“Well, we don't know that to be a fact, Marla. We are just concerned for your safety and we wanted to let you know our suspicions. Please, if you find out anything that might help our investigation, please let us know. Thank you for your time.” Sheriff McCoy stood up to leave and Jake followed him. Just as they were leaving, Jesse came into the house to ask where he could find the hedge clippers.


“Hello, Sheriff, Mr. Carpenter.” Jesse said politely.


“I would like to ask you a few questions. When did you first arrive on the island and who was the first person that saw you here?” Sheriff McCoy asked him.


“I arrived...
“No, Jesse, you don't have to answer any of these questions. He is a good guy and has had nothing to do with what you want to accuse him of. Now, if you would both just leave. If you want to question Jesse, then you need to come back with a subpoena.” Marla knew a little about the law because of Lawrence who had to deal with law suits from time to time. When you have lots of money someone is always trying to sue and get their hands on it.


Going to the patrol car, Jake kept thinking about how there was something familiar about Jesse and it wasn't that he had stopped by the store the day before. It was something else that Jake could not put his finger on just yet.


“You are awfully quiet, Jake. What are you thinking about?” Sheriff McCoy said interrupting Jake's thoughts.


“Oh, it's nothing. I still don't trust that guy. Are you going to get a subpoena to question him?” Jake asked sternly.


“Yes, I am. I think he had something to do with that girl missing around the same time he showed up here and I am going to prove it.” Sheriff McCoy had a look of satisfaction on his face.


They got a group of locals together to search the entire island for Stacey Lowery. They looked everywhere. By late evening, no one had found even one clue as to where she could be. Mr. and Mrs. Lowery were devastated and torn to pieces. When it got dark they called off the search until the next morning.


The only doctor on the island, Doc Peters, gave Mrs. Lowery something to help her sleep. Mr. Lowery was being strong, but you could tell by looking at him that he was shaken up, too. Where was their daughter and why haven't they found a trace of her anywhere on the island.


Sheriff McCoy came into the station to talk to Deputy Smith. “Did you pick up the pieces and clean up real good like I told you to the other night?”


“Yes, sir. I took care of everything. I always clean up after your messes, don't I? This time I think you went too far. Your little mess might explode even though I cleaned it up for now.”


“I don't need your opinions on anything. You owe me and you need not to forget it. It will do you good to keep your mouth closed about what you know.” Sheriff McCoy said to Deputy Smith in a threatening way.


“I will never be able to forget that I owe you, 'cause you make sure to remind me twenty times a day. Did you talk to that Jesse fellow?”


“No, Marla stopped our conversation and said we would have to subpoena him for questioning.That bimbo is trouble too. She thinks that because she has all that money she can order the law around. Let's she how she likes it when I throw her little boyfriend in the slammer.”

I am working to give two more chapters to Mystery Island by Friday of this week. Thanks for reading and tell a friend to drop by and check out Kimberly'swritingbloblogspot.com

Kimberly's Writing Blog: Time Gone Wrong

Kimberly's Writing Blog: Time Gone Wrong: There seems to be a shifting in the wind. It looks like this may very well be the end The land of the free, home of the brave Was robbed...