Romans 12

Once again I am in Delta and have some time to update my blog! I am working on memorizing Romans 12 along with the Jr Hi youth at church so I am going to see how well I am doing. Here goes!!
Therefore I urge you brothers in view of Gods mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, then you will be able to test and approve what Gods will is, his good pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you do not think of yourself more highly then you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the measure faith God has given you.
Just as each of us has one body with many member's and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If a mans gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith, if it is serving let him serve, if it is teaching let him teach, if it is encouraging let him encourage, if it is giving to the needs of others let him give generously. If it is leadership let him govern diligently, If it is showing mercy let him do it cheerfully. Love must be sincere hate what is evil cling to what is good.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love, Honor one another above yourselves
Never be lacking in zeal but keep your spiritual fervor serving the lord. Be Joyful in hope, patient in affliction faithful in prayer.
Share with Gods people who are in need, practice hospitality
Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse, Rejoice with those who rejoice morn with those who morn. Live in harmony with one another do not be proud but be willing to associate with people of low position do not be conceited
Do not repay anyone evil for evil, Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible as far as it depends on you live at peace with everyone, Do not take revenge my friends, but leave room for Gods wrath for it is written "it is mine to avenge I will repay says the lord" On the contrary If your enemy is hungry give him something to eat, if he is thirsty give him something to drink. in in doing this you will heap burning coal on his head Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.

the parts in italics is where I messed up :-( --I have a lot of work to do yet!! But usually with just a word or 2 I could go on for a while :-)

New post especially for Brooke

Guess what Brooke I am in Delta today and tomorrow so I have some time to update my blog again so this one is for you --Probably my only reader!! Bob had an aunt die so he is heading to Fairview MI for the funeral.
Well Dave and I are quickly getting back into the ole grind after a wonderful weekend away. We went to Kansas to see Brooke, meet her boyfriend, take a wonderful group of college kids out for pizza Sunday evening,(you'll have to ask them about the blessing, What a great time) and spend some time with an old friend Kevin. All to celebrate our 29th anniversary. Some may think that going to Kansas may be a lame place to celebrate, but for us it was the best place--this is where we met. We stayed up too late for old people every night we were there, and wouldn't have changed a thing about the weekend, except maybe to not have Brooke work on Saturday. But all in all it was wonderful and I am glad we did it. We were blessed!!
So we just celebrated 29 years of wedded bliss. I cannot imagine having gone through those 29 years with anyone else they have been good. I am not saying we have had a bed of roses, many times we only had thorns, but we are in this life together! We have had the privilege of having 4 great kids, I love them all more than words can say. When I think of how much I love my husband and kids and how much more that Jesus loves us it simply amazes me.
As this weekend is Easter, I think of the tremendous LOVE the Father has for us. To give his child is to give the most precious thing that He could give. To give your Son is more of a sacrifice than to give yourself. And to give His son Jesus to die for us --not for himself --but for us-- AMAZING LOVE. To add to that the awesome resurrection--which is the foundation of our christian faith. Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies. John 11:25 I believe!!!
I have seen Caleb and Brooke this week, and will see Jessica on Sunday, Shaun I miss so much But I know I will see him again because he has died, yet he lives. (the bible tells me so) He too believed --But 10 1/2 years is too long for a parent to go with out seeing their child. (I don't like to go a month) But to those of you left here, don't worry about me, I am not making plans to go to heaven just yet, I want to stay here with you until Jesus calls my name to go to Him.

Stress

A lecturer when explaining stress management to an audience, Raised a glass of water and asked 'How heavy is this glass of water?' Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied, 'The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes. 'He continued,'And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, As the burden becomes increasingly heavy, We won't be able to carry on. ''As with the glass of water, You have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.'' So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, Let them down for a moment if you can. 'So, my friend, Put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while.

Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:
Accept that some days you're the pigeon, And some days you're the statue.
Always keep your words soft and sweet, Just in case you have to eat them.
Always wear stuff that will make you look good If you die in the middle of it.
Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be"Recalled" by their maker.
If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, It was probably worth it.
It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to be kind to others.
Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, Because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance
Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
The second mouse gets the cheese.
When everything's coming your way,You're in the wrong lane.
Birthdays are good for you.The more you have, the longer you live.
You may be only one person in the world, But you may also be the world to one person.
Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
We could learn a lot from crayons... Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

rich man in heaven

There once was a rich man who was near death. He was very grieved because he had worked so hard for his money and he wanted to be able to take it with him to heaven. So he began to pray that he might be able to take some of his wealth with him.
An angel hears his plea and appears to him, "Sorry, but you can't take your wealth with you."
The man implores the angel to speak to God to see if He might bend the rules.
The man continues to pray that his wealth could follow him. The angel reappears and informs the man that God has decided to allow him to take one suitcase with him. Overjoyed, the man gathers his largest suitcase and fills it with pure gold bars and places it beside his bed.
Soon afterward the man dies and shows up at the Gates of Heaven to greet St. Peter. Seeing the suitcase Peter says, "Hold on, you can't bring that in here!"
But the man explains to him that he has permission and asks him to verify his story with the Lord. Sure enough,. Peter checks and comes back saying, "You're right. You are allowed one carry-on bag, but I'm supposed to check its contents before letting it through."
Peter opens the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that the man found too precious to leave behind and exclaims, "You brought pavement?!?!" (Revelation 21:21 -

Christmas thoughts

CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS - A SILENT AND HOLY NIGHT
By Dan Bode
It was indeed a Silent and Holy night.
There was little left to do but watch. The animals had long since fallen asleep. The small town activities had for the most part ceased, and those who still escaped the realm of dreams were oblivious to the occasion to which they were not witness. Most were merely puzzled by the Star never seen before even though it seemed to hover right over this little town of Bethlehem, a town whose very existence was based on the industry of providing sacrificial lambs for the temple in Jerusalem.
The only sounds were the moans of a young, soon-to-be mother in the final hours of a labor that had begun in the Garden so long ago. The will of her body was overcome by the need of the moment as contraction after contraction contorted her features with pain. But she had known this was out of her control from the moment she became aware of His presence.
The only other person aware of the import of this moment is the man at her side. The one on whose shoulders fall the responsibility of helping to bring into this world He who will be the Flesh of God.
All the questions that race through their minds are pushed aside as the symphony of the birthing process reaches its crescendo, and suddenly the Life of Man is Present in this world.
I find myself envious of their perspective. They were there at the beginning, and all they knew of the child at that moment was the name of His Father and His role as Savior of the world. They could take joy in the grasping hands and the baby’s laughter.
I, on the other hand, have the historical perspective as well.
I can look back at His birth, and look back at His death as well.
And there lies the difference..
I cannot see the newborn babe without the grown man on the cross.
I cannot see the grasping hands without the nails piercing His flesh.
I cannot see the smooth brow without the thorns.
What I can see is the mercy of our maker.
Some would say we deserve only His pity for what we've done with what He's given us, but pity is merely mercy without action, and God can never be described as complacent.
He has always been active in His love for us, even undeserving as we are. And because of all this I will always see the whole life of Christ as the Great Substitution. Completely undeserved.
Undeserved by Christ for suffering penalties not meant for Him.
Undeserved by me for being unable to make the necessary sacrifice.
It took so long for me to discover that I truly needed a Savior.
And so I sit as the world goes by around me; almost everyone once again oblivious to the occasion to which they are not witness.
So, into this Silent and Holy Night I have these three things to say:
God have mercy.
Joy to the world when you recognize your Lord.
Happy Birthday Jesus!

Concert

Last evening we went to a Gaither homecoming concert "Lovin' Life" in Toledo. It was really awesome, We had never been to one before. First off it was 4 hours long!! There were several singers, I really enjoyed Gordan Mote their Blind piano player, as well as Mark Lawery, The Isaacs (they were awesome) Ernie Haase and Signature sound and also Lynda Tait Randle, and David Phelps. They sang gospel music as well as several Christmas tunes. When we went in they gave us each a blue light, it looked awesome to see all of them on and/or flickering when they sang--especially such songs as Oh Holy night and silent night. It was really cool.
We were in section 2 which was off to the left side of the stage as you were looking at it, we were 3 rows back, they had several monitors you could see too. We basically could see their profiles unless we watched the monitors. The man right in front of us won the giveaway they had of $200. of merchandise! My sister Nancy made the arrangements, we went with her and her husband Randy, my mom and my other sister Joyce. It was a lot of fun.

Tonight Dave, mom, Nancy, Rachel and I are going to the Croswell Theater to see A Christmas Carol. We are really getting a lot of "Culture" this week for a couple of old people!!

An investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The banker complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The fisherman replied, "Only a little while."

The banker then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish?

The fisherman said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.

The banker then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a nap with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I play guitar and sing with my friends. I have a full and busy life."

The banker scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and I could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to a big city where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"

To which the banker replied, "15-20 years."

"But what then?"

The banker laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions."

"Millions...Then what?"

The banker said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a nap with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could play your guitar and sing with your friends."