This has been on my mind for quite awhile now....how to express, in words, the love, appreciation, gratitude and other feelings that I have been blessed with for all of you.....the people on my mailing list.....the graphic designers whose sets appear on Planting His Seeds and R&R Inspirationals....the poets and writers whose works appear on my website...the people who have helped me start my first website and those who continue to help make Planting His Seeds what it is today.

I started my first website, R&R Inspirational Messages, over eight years ago, and a very good friend of mine, Kathy Wilson first designed it.  It eventually grew into Planting His Seeds, but I've always kept R&R Inspirationals included, although now it serves as the "weekly messages" page, and Kathy and I have always remained in contact, both by email and by letters back and forth, and I hold her very dear in my heart.

Planting His Seeds was only possible through the help of another very good friend, Tom Garcia, and later, Brent from Webnet 77.  Webnett 77 hosts our website, and as far as I am concerned, they are the BEST hosts on the Internet.  As for Tom, he continues to work on my computer when needed and Ruby and I have sat down and broken bread with Tom and his lovely wife, Sharon many times.  Tom and Sharon has been such a blessing in our lives and continues to be.

Many of you on my mailing list have been there since the very first, and many of you have sent contributions such as stories, poems, articles and so forth. You are the 'driving force' behind R&R Inspirationals as well as Planting His Seeds.  When I first started a mailing list, there were only 3 or 4 names there (some of you remember that well, because YOU were those 3 or 4) and the list grew to where it is today, and it continues to grow, thanks in part to you and your referrals.  Some of you I have actually called on the telephone and visited with, or mailed letters and cards to, or  prayed for.   Some of you ARE members of my family, and there are two of you who actually led Ruby and I to Christ....Fran S. and Electa S.  You have a special place in our hearts.  Many of you have enriched our lives greatly, through your prayers, your contributions, your kind remarks, and for just being there sometimes when we needed you.  I can't thank you enough for allowing me to share my 'weekly messages' with you.  Because of you, we have grown spiritually, and in the past, when, for some reason or another, I haven't been able to come out with the weekly messages for a particular week, I have felt terrible.  I have an obligation to publish these messages every week, and I thank God above for you folks for giving me that obligation!

And, of course, I am very much indebted to the many wonderful graphic designers who have given Planting His Seeds and R&R Inspirationals the look it has today.  People like Dot McEntire, of Graphics by Dot, who sets are not only beautiful, but has gone out of her way to help me with certain sets and when I needed a special set, stepped forward and created that set for me.  She is always there when I need her; not only that but she provided the set for the updated Planting His Seeds.  She also does a lot of work on my website.  She has a special place in my heart.  Then there's Beverly of Moon & Back Graphics.  Her sets are indeed stunning and are used by thousands of sites all over the Internet.  Her sets are some of the very first sets I ever used and she continues to create stunning masterpieces, including the one you see here.  Another person who continues to be a blessing to me is MagnoliaD, of  Magnolia Designs.  She has also stepped forward many times to create for me a special set and never once complained about how much I 'bug' her.  She has helped me many times with her absolutely beautiful graphic sets.  You will find many! of them throughout Planting His Seeds.  She is a beautiful person, and one that continues to bless me in many ways!  ( NOTE: Sadly, Donnette, otherwise known as MagnoliaD, went home to be with our Lord and Savior last year, 2010.  Her friendship and memory lives on in our lives) Of course, I owe many thanks to other wondrous designers whose sets appear on my website. Shari's Designs, who has helped me on special sets,  ACW Designs,  Luvdalot Graphics & Design,  Majestic Websets,  Ultimate Designs, and the list goes on and on.  I have searched the Internet from time to time, trying to find fantastic graphic sets, and every single time, I continue with these same designers.  They all share one common thread....they have been blessed by God with a fantastic gift......to create beautiful sets and because of them, I continue to use them to share our Christian messages.  I thank God for each and every one of them every day.

And, of course, how could I possibly forget the poets and writers whose works appear on my websites.  These many poets and writers are the source of Planting His Seeds and R&R Inspirationals.  Without them, my websites would not be!  I cannot begin to express my love for many of these folks.  They have the gift of transforming simple words into works that bring forth every type of emotion imaginable.....tears of joy, tears of sadness, thought provoking moments, reflections of past or future and so forth.  Our life has been blessed beyond measure by their literary works and in many, many cases, has also been there for Ruby and I.  Many of their works, poems or otherwise, appear all throughout Planting His Seeds...poets and writers like Joan Costner, Kathy Martin, Vickie Lambdin,  Sandy Griffin, Joni Kassel, Jo Ann Kelly, Joanne Lowe, Bob Perks, who has a gift from God of looking at a normal everyday occurrence and seeing something that no one else can see and create an inspirational story from it.   Mariane Holbrook, who has blessed me time and time again with her poems and stories, Joesph Mazella and his most inspirational writings. The list goes one and on.  I don't have the time or space to list all the wonderful writers and poets that whose works appear on my site, but please know that they have indeed not only enriched our lives greatly, but we have grown more mature spiritually and emotionally because of their words.  Many times their words have caused Ruby and I to stop what we're doing, and think about something in a different light......to reflect on something, or to change a particular habit or thought to a more Christ like habit or thought.

Yes, you probably thought I have forgotten, but I haven't.  Ruby.  There is no way in the world that I could accomplish what I need to accomplish without my beautiful wife, Ruby.  Although I do most of the technical stuff, like editing/adding/changing pages and so forth, without her inspiration, her love, her help...WITHOUT HER, I would be lost.  I might put on a new page but if I am uncertain whether this music fits that page...or if the graphics are right for the message, and she will provide her opinion.  98% of the time, she is right on.  At times, when I'm lazy and just want to watch TV, she'll ask me if I'm done on the computer and if not, then I better get with it.  Other times, if I'm spending too much time on the computer, then she will politely (well, sometimes) tell me to get finished and rest.  There's an old saying that behind every man is a good woman...well, that is true.  God blessed me with Ruby and in fact, in my opinion, HE even arranged our meeting.  But that's another story.  This is why everything I do have "Rick & Ruby" behind it, including R&R Inspirationls...(Rick & Ruby).  I cannot imagine my life without my Ruby.

Which leads me to THE most important person that has made this possible.....my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Once, before I even had a computer, I had friends that did have computers and through surfing the Internet, saw various Christian sites, and my dream was born.  I prayed to God for a computer, but it was more of a request than a prayer.  I was a Christian then, and although I did believe in prayer, deep in my heart, I was not certain whether my prayers would even be heard.  But Jesus heard my prayers, and I actually won my very first computer, a Compaq, through a radio promotion.  That was the start.  Of course, it was over a year before my first website was started.  And I have went through some rocky times first surfing the Internet.  Going places I shouldn't have gone, doing things I shouldn't have done.  But I always repented to God, and in His mercy and love, HE forgave me and I have been blessed by Him mightily.  In fact, I prayed long and hard to come up with a name for my 2nd website and through His help and that of the Holy Spirit, I came up with "Planting His Seeds", which is just what I do through my many messages....planting HIS seeds.  And I have found out, many times, when I start to become too haughty or too proud of my accomplishments, HE will take me down a notch or two, and I remember it was HIM who gave me the gift of love for what I am doing to make my website grow.  As our home page says, our prayer is to share Inspirational stories and poems with others, in hopes that they will touch your heart and change the way you look at some things, and perhaps, just perhaps, someone who doesn't know our Lord and Savior will read one of these stories or poems and a seed will be planted within them which will someday grow into a sincere love and need for Jesus in their lives.

Well, that's it.  I have tried, as best as I can, to express my feelings towards everyone that has made Planting His Seeds and R&R Inspirationals what it is today..... a dream come true.  It was a dream of mine to have my own Christian website, to come out with weekly messages and to have a website that was visited by many and to share inspirational poems, stories, articles and so forth.  No doubt there will be people that I have forgot to include on this "gratitude page"...graphic designers, poets and authors, people who have signed our guestbook and others and I hereby apologize to those people who I have omitted.....but please know that there isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank God for the ones that have made this website as successful as it is. I pray God's blessings on each and every one of you.

Rick & Ruby Harris
August 20, 2006

Planting His Seeds
R&R Inspirationals