10 things that WON'T change now that Obama is president

Proverbs of the day

Pro 13:17 

A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is helath.

^{Pro 13:18}

^{Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honored.}

Pack a shoe box!!! Still Time!

There are still a few days left to get those shoe boxes packed!!!!  You can enter your zip code to find the nearest location to drop them off.

Bless a child!

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Proverbs of the Week

The Weak and the Strong

Romans 14

The Weak and the Strong

 One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written:
   " 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord,
   'every knee will bow before me;
      every tongue will confess to God.' "

So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.

So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

Thankfulness by Shalom Pearl Brand

Thankfulness

By: Shalom Pearl Brand

 

My husband is a mechanic, and in his line of work he meets all kinds of different people, because everybody needs their car worked on at one time or another. There are at least two kinds of people, the thankful and the unthankful.

My husband has a customer from out of state who comes by for Justin to look at his van during those times when he is in town visiting friends. Justin will stop everything he is doing just to help him, because this man’s heart runs over with thankfulness. But there are other customers who come in that, no matter much how Justin goes out of his way to help them, they never think to say, “thank you,” and they never act like they appreciated what he has just done for them. They will often come up with one thing or another that they think he is doing wrong, even though they might not know anything about cars. Their unthankful attitude portrays their unhappiness with life. Justin really does not care to do business with them at all; it just isn’t worth the hassle.  

Now, I know we should do our best for everyone, whether they are thankful or not. But, without forethought, we have a tendency to more readily respond to a thankful person.  How would you feel if you gave a present to your best friend and she looked at you with a grimace and said, “Thank you, but I don’t need this blouse, besides I only wear name brands”? Yes, she did say the words “thank you,” but her attitude was one of ungratefulness. Would you readily go out and spend another thirty dollars on her, hoping she will like the gift this time?

When does thankfulness start? You, as a parent, teach your child to say, “thank you,” and everyone thinks it is so cute. But are you teaching them to be thankful as well? Thankfulness is more caught than taught. It comes from the heart, not the will, and not from good habits. Thankfulness is opposed to whining and griping; a child can’t do both. So, a thankful child is a happy child. If a mother is joyful, the child will be as well. If the mother is unthankful, she will never teach her children to be thankful, no matter what they say in response to a gift.

Most of the time, when I observe children with bad attitudes and bad actions, it is due to their not being thankful for what others are doing for them. Gracie, my little two-year-old, is thankful about everything. If I get up in the middle of the night to take her to the bathroom, afterward when she is lying on my shoulder, barely awake but kissing me, she says over and over again; “Thank you, Mama, thank you, Mama.” They are not just words to her, but a part of her heart, a part of who she is. At mealtime, she is always thankful for the food I put in front of her. We expect her to be thankful for the time I spent making it.

We teach her to be aware of the sacrifices others make for her. When I am about to serve food that I think may be too spicy for her, or if I am serving a food I know she just does not like very well, I tell her before I put it in front of her, “Gracie you do not have to eat this; just tell Mama ‘No, thank you,’ because Mama worked really hard making this food for you and Daddy.”  I instruct her thus so as not to create an attitude of unthankfulness. The food is not the issue; her heart is. Because we have focused on the heart, there are very few healthy foods that she does not like.

I know that Gracie gets more than her share of gifts, because when you give her something, no matter what it is (even if it is small), she is so full of joy and thanksgiving. I have never really told her to say the words, “thank you”; she just learned that it was the word to say when you feel happy and thankful. Now, she uses it to express an attitude of gratefulness that has nothing to do with the word itself.

Parents, you must learn to be thankful for the little things in life that are so big in the eyes of a two-year-old.  I do not know how you feel, but I know that when my little girl is 18 years old, I want her to be filled with thankfulness that her parents are watching out for her best interests. I want her to have a good attitude toward life and toward us.  

From the time Gracie was born, I always expressed great thankfulness toward life in general, and she is always watching and listening. I will tell her, “Daddy works so hard so that we can eat; let’s rub Daddy’s feet for him.” Justin, in the same manner, will say, “Look at Mama, she’s cooking supper for us. Do you want to help her? She loves us so much.” Whenever Gracie does something for me, like putting a piece of paper in the trash, cleaning up her toys, bringing my shoes, whatever it may be, I show her a thankful and joyful smile.  She knows that I am pleased with her and with her service.  She is a better helper than many six-year-old children, and has a better attitude too. I am very thankful for her help, and because she knows it, she is thankful for all the things I do for her.

Gracie has two friends from a broken family, who go to public school and are not trained in any way. The little boy is five, and his sister is three; they come over and visit off and on. Their dad works for my husband. One day when I was in the shop, I told their dad that they were so good about cleaning up after themselves. He laughed and said, “They don’t do that.” I told him,

“They sure do.” His children, being untrained and never cleaning up at their own home, love to clean when they come to my house. They know that I will be so thankful for their help and that I will praise them for their good work and brag on them to their dad.

In times past, when their dad would come to pick them up, they would complain and whine about having to leave. It was a big, unhappy ordeal. So one day, I set them down and explained to them how their dad works so hard, then goes home and cooks for them, and washes their clothes, and takes good care of them. Then I asked them what they could do to help him. I was training them to be thankful, which translated into being hard, willing, thoughtful workers. “When your daddy comes to get you, do not complain, but be thankful that he is such a hard worker.” Well, when their dad showed up, they started eagerly putting their shoes on and gathering up their things. The five-year-old boy started to complain just a little, and right away the little three-year-old girl said, “Bubba, be sweet.” He donned a chastened look and went back to putting on his shoes.  Their dad told me later that they had started cleaning up after themselves and were keeping their room clean. He said, “I do not know what has gotten into them.” I know; it is called THANKFULNESS! Only a few minutes of instruction, training, and reinforcement, and by reminding them of his sacrifice, was all it took to get them started on the road to thankfulness. It became a part of their heart and soul, once they saw their daddy’s heart toward them. Most training issues start with either a lack of instruction or too much heady, religious, soul-invading manipulation.   

Most of Gracie’s baby clothes were given to me, and not all of them were the cutest or in the best condition, but I would let Gracie try on every one of them and make a time of enjoyment of the gift. I would always talk about how nice the person was who thought to give us their things. It is not about the clothes or whether they are cute or not; it is about your child’s soul, and showing her a thankful spirit. Even if all I do is use the clothes for her baby doll, the point is still to be thankful. You are molding a little heart, and your every attitude will teach them how they should respond to life and to those around them.  

Just yesterday, on the way home from work, I asked Gracie, “Who is Mama thankful for?” I was expecting her to say, “Daddy,” or, “Gracie,” but no, she sat there for a minute and then said, “God.” I was shocked that even at the age of two she has learned what Mama is thankful for: what God has done for us! She went on, in her own little words, to say, “Mama is happy, Daddy is happy, Gracie is happy, God is happy that Gracie is happy.”  I started to laugh with her, because, yes, I was happy, and I am sure God was smiling as well.  

Gracie is already learning to be thankful for what Christ has done for her on Calvary. It will be a few years before she totally understands why Jesus had to die for her, but she is on the right road to learning to be thankful for what he has done for her. And when the time comes for her to understand, I am certain she will be thankful for his sacrifice.

More aticles by Shalom can be found at: www.nogreaterjoy.org

TV FREE

I killed it!

Well, I did it!  I killed the cable tv!

A modern Psalm taken from “The New International Unchristian Perversion.”

“The TV is my shepherd, I shall not want anything else. It maketh me to lie down on the sofa. It leadeth me away from the Scripture. It destroys my soul. It leadeth me in the paths of sex and violence for the sponsors sake, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will enjoy the evil, for blood and sex they excite me. It’s cable and remote they comfort me. It prepares a commercial before me in the presence of my children. It anoints my head with humanism, My coveting runneth over. Surely laziness and ignorance shall follow my family all the days of our lives, and we shall dwell in the house watching TV forever.”

Not anymore!

The Start of a Journey

What do you think?

Love is...

Resurrection Day!

"Why do you look for the living among the dead?

He is not here; He has RISEN!!!"

Wishing you a glorious and blessed Resurrection Day!

Good Friday

Palm Sunday

authority

Let's go be Amish!

Thoughts on Titus & Self-Control

Fruit of the Spirit

Something I read this morning that we all need to meditate on!  (Including myself!):

The fruit of the Spirit refers to the virtues of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility) and self-control.

When you display irresponsible behaviour, pride, expressions of enmity, lack of love, and other works of the flesh (Galatians. 5:19-21), you are lacking the fruit of the Spirit.

If you have been born again by the power of the Holy Spirit, you are eligible to receive the things of the Spirit of God. You must be willing to let the Holy Spirit produce these virtues within you (Gal. 5:22,23).

Thankfulness

Today I am thankful for our cars!

Without our cars my husband couldn't do his job, I couldn't take the children to their activities, grocery shopping would be horrible, and how would I pick up things like chicken feed?

Thankfulness

I am thankful for my three sons!  They are a gift from God and are all very special!  I love them so much!