Citizens Arrest!!

Here is one of the funniest clips from all of the Andy Griffith shows...yet it has a great principle behind it...see James 3:1 and enjoy the clip!

On the Run!

Oh yeah…God is good! Samantha made her way home Friday mid-day and it sure is good to see her. Jill was missing her, but I didn’t realize how much I missed her until I saw her. Then yesterday we all went to Centralia to let Sam visit with her grandmas and cousins. My grandma is doing well. She is at home and recovery is slow, but that is to be expected for someone who is 95! Got a chuckle out of her when she told me how young a 78 year-old woman was and how the 78 year-old should be able to do anything! Now this morning we are getting ready for church…not sure just yet where we'll attend, but I’ve narrowed it down to a couple. I'm guessing right now, our readiness at 8:45 will likely determine whether we attend the church with a 9:30 service or opt for the church with a 10:30 service. Either way I am expecting a mighty move of the hands of God this morning! It is a blessing to have a short family vacation together. Now I just gotta squeeze all I can into the two remaining days before Sam returns to California and the girls turn into pumpkins! Can’t believe I said that…Jill would say before I turn into a pumpkin…either way, God is sooo good!

Blessings Galore!

Talk about blessed! I spent last Tuesday with a dozen others working at Love Packages in Butler, IL. Steve Schmidt is one of my favorite brothers in the faith and the testimonies he shares about how God is at work around the globe are faith-shaping to say the least. Then for me, to be able to put my hands to work (physically) on a Kingdom building activity…well, that is having my cake and eating it too! It’s then I realize how God has abundantly blessed me when I hear stories of others who are doing without the things I take for granted…things like a Bible, or training, or the freedom to worship openly. I am doubly blessed when I am able to help others realize a blessing that God has for them (that would technically make me a blessing)! I am also reminded that the body of Christ (the Church) is made up of many parts, none more important than another, and that by working together we function as a healthy body…and working alone we are incomplete at best, diseased at worse. Don’t misunderstand me, a church or an individual can work for the Kingdom in isolation and God can/will honor that work, but when working with others in the body the work is exponentially used by God. That is by God’s design, not because of anyone's gifts or resources, but because God WANTS us to work together for the Kingdom! All that to say if you want or need a blessing, or want to bless others, check out www.lovepackages.org or search for Love Packages on YouTube to get his story, Steve can usually use the help.

Live Ready...and be Blessed!

Yes, for all concerned, I did survive those nights alone with the girls last week…in fact I am sure I was blessed by it! However, my greatest blessings come from the presence of God…I suspect yours do as well. There is something about sensing the very presence of God, perhaps not physically, but sensing God’s very presence with you or in a service…in a very real way, real enough to want to reach out and touch God…that is a blessing! Or to sense God speaking to you…not speaking generally, but specifically to you! I have shared with some before that there have been times when I am sure God spoke to me audibly. I was alone, so I cannot confirm my thoughts, but then it really doesn’t matter does it? I know that God spoke specifically to me and that is a blessing. I have often wanted God to bless me, wanting to replicate the feeling, but I’ve learned the only way one can come into God’s presence is to intentionally hunger and thirst after His righteousness alone. When God calls to us (as He often does) and we are busy…too busy to stop whatever preoccupies us in order to focus on Him, we have just slammed the door shut in His face. Even worse, we have opened the door for satan! It is our pursuit of God that leads to the presence of God. Smith Wigglesworth said, “You have to live ready. If you have to stop to get ready, you are too late. The opportunity will have gone” (Wigglesworth: A Man Who Walked With God, p. 78). My prayer for us is that we live ready!

So True!

I came across this article and it was credited to Bill Gates. Then I read where it was not from Gates, but from an educator…doesn't really matter...either way there is much truth in this and it is something all kids, including mine, need to know.

11 Rules Your Kids Did Not Learn In School

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2: The world doesn't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.