According To Regina...

One of my co-workers sent this to me and I thought this lady had some pretty good life lessons!

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Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone...

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion, Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone and everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give it time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Good Thought.

"Every great movement of God can be traced to a lone kneeling figure."

D.L. Moody

Too Blessed.

I'm Too Blessed To Be Stressed,
Too Anointed To Be Disappointed

I refuse to be discouraged,

To be sad or to cry.

I refuse to be downhearted

And here's the reason why:

I have a God who is almighty;

Who is sovereign and supreme;

I have a God who loves me,

And I am on His team.

He is all wise and powerful;

Jesus is His Name;

Though everything else is changeable,

My God remains the same.

I refuse to be defeated!

My eyes are on my GOD!

He has promised to be with me,

As through this life I trod.

I am looking past my circumstances,

To Heaven's throne above.

My prayers have reached the heart of God.

I am resting in His Love.

I give thanks to Him in everything.

My eyes are on His face.

The battle is His; the victory is mine;

He will help me win the race!

I repeat "I'M TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!"

Author Unknown

Victory In Christ.

This afternoon I was reading "To Die is Gain" - a story about John and Betty Stam and was stopped by these two paragraphs. They are rather lengthy, but well worth the read.

Shall we beat a retreat, and turn back from our high calling in Christ Jesus; or dare we advance at God's command, in face of the impossible? .... Let us remind ourselves that the Great Commission was never qualified by clauses calling for advance only if funds were plentiful and no hardship or self-denial involved. On the contrary, we are told to expect tribulation and even persecution, but with it victory in Christ.

Friends, the task with all its attendant difficulties is enough to fill our hearts with dismay, if we look only to ourselves and our weakness. But the authority in our Master's command to go forward should fill us with joy and the expectation of victory. He knows our weakness and our lack of supplies. He knows the roughness of the way. And His command carries with it the assurance of all we need. Of course we want to be assured of our support! Who cares to go forward in any enterprise, secular or religious, unless he can be reasonably sure that it will not be dropped for lack of funds? Incomes are failing, men are losing employment and bank accounts are being wiped out. Do we, as Christian workers, want to be sure of support? Then let us not put our trust in men, or in any God-dishonoring methods of raising funds for the work. These are not certain enough. We have it on the highest authority that the promise is of faith, that it might be sure. The faithfulness of God is the only certain thing in the world today. We need not fear
the result of trusting Him...

John Stam, martyred missionary to China

24 Thoughts For Today.

I got this in an e-mail from Ben and Nina's mom and thought it had some good points!

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1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. When you wake up in the morning, complete the following statement: "My purpose is to __________ today."

4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, and almonds.

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does. (Love this one!!!!)

12. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

14. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"

17. Forgive everyone for everything.

18. What other people think of you is none of your business.

19. GOD heals everything.

20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

23. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: "I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________."

24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed. (For sure!)

May We....May God.

"As we have a high old time this Christmas, may we who know Christ hear the cry of the damned as they hurtle headlong into the Christless night without ever a chance. May we be moved with compassion as our Lord was. May we shed tears of repentance for these we have failed to bring out of darkness. Beyond the smiling scenes of Bethlehem may we see the crushing agony of Golgotha. May God give us a new vision of His will concerning the lost and our responsibility."

~Nate Saint~

(Excerpt taken from "Through Gates of Splendor" and written on December 18, 1955, just weeks before he was killed taking the Gospel to the Aucas Indians)

Quote On Prayer.

"I have come to see that in past years I have wasted much time over praying that was not effecive prayer at all. Praying without faith is like trying to cut with a blunt knife --- much labour expended to little purpose. For the work accomplished by labour in prayer depens on our faith: 'According to your faith,' not labour, 'be it unto you.'

I have been impressed lately with the thought... that people fail in praying the prayer of faith because they do not believe that God has answered, but only that he will answer their petitions. They rise from their knees feeling that God will answer some time or other, but not that He has answered already. This is not the faith that makes payer effective. True faith glories in the present tense, and does not trouble itself about the future. God's promises are in the present tense, and are quite secure enought to set our hearts at rest. Their full outworking is often in the future, butGod's word is as good as His bond and we need have no anxiety. Sometimes He gives at once what we ask, but more often He just gives His promise (Mark 11:24). Perhaps He is more glorified in this latter case, for it means that our faith is tried and strengthened."

James Fraiser - pioneer missionary to China

Doing Our Part.

Within the space of one week, two friends - one in PA and one here in Thailand - mentioned to me the book, "Mountain Rain", which is a biography of James Fraiser who was a missionary to China. On Monday night my friend lent it to me and I've been trying to read a chapter or so each night before bed. Since the book is not my own (and I like to make comments on the side of the page or highlight quotes!), I've been writing down quotes as I'm going through the book. I'm not very far into the book, but it has already challenged me!

• "If our Master returned today to find millions of people unevangelized, and looked, as of course He would look, to us for an explanation, I cannot imagine what explanation we should have to give. Of one thing I am certain - that most of the excuses we are accustomed to make with such good conscience now, we shall be wholly ashamed of then." ~ Page 4
• "One has sometimes to prune a tree in one direction, that it may develop better in another." ~ Page 8
• "God means just what He says, and He will do all that He has promised" - Hudson Taylor ~ Page 10
• "And if God has chosen it for us, hadn't we better go straight ahead and do it, without waiting for anything greater, better, or 'nobler'?" ~ Page 19
• "Besides, as so often with the call of God, it was not an apparently logical step to take." ~ Page 22
• "It does seem a terrible thing that so few are offering for the mission field... I can't help feeling that there is something wrong somewhere." ~ Page 25
• "The matter is in the Lord's hands. If He wants me to go He will send me. It would be very unwise to attempt to rush things or force a door which He has closed." ~ Page 27
• "But I am finding out that it is a mistake to plan to get through a certain amount of work in a certain time." ~ Page 32 (This one is especially true on the mission field!!!! It never pays to plan anything out to a great extent, because it will change 3 times before it is accomplished!)
• "I am feeling more and more that it is, after all, just the prayers of God's people that call down blessing upon the work, whether they are directly engaged in it or not." ~ Page 35 (VERY, very true!)
• "We are, as it were, God's agents - used by Him to do His work, not ours. We do our part, and then can only look to Him, with others, for His blessing. If this is so, then Christians at home can do as much for foreign missions as those actually on the field." ~ Page 35
• "Solid, lasting missionary work is done on our knees." ~ Page 36

Just some thoughts and musings on my end as I'm challenged by a missionary who travelled this path oh so long ago...

Checking In With A Thought.

I haven't disappeared... just extremely busy! Here's something to think about (for you handful of people faithfully visiting:o)).

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A missionary is one who never gets used to the sound of heathen footsteps on their way to a Christ less eternity. - Anonymous

Imagine...

Imagine for a moment that someone has established for you a very unusual bank account. Each morning he has agreed to deposit $86,400. At the end of each day whatever you have not spent will be forfeited. Would you not be diligent to see to it that every penny of that account was withdrawn and properly spent? Would you allow any of it to expire unredeemed?

To read the rest of this challenging statement, go here...

Trust Me.

"Trust Me, My Child," God says,

"Trust Me with a fuller abandon than you ever have before.

Trust Me, as minute succeeds minute,

Every day of your life, for as long as you live.

And if you become conscious of anything hindering our relationship,

Do not hurt Me by turning away from Me.

Draw all the closer to Me, come, run to Me.
Allow Me to hide you, to protect you, even from yourself.

Tell Me your deepest cares, your every trouble.

Trust Me to keep My Hand upon you.

I will never leave you.

I will shape you, mold you, and perfect you.

Do not fear, O child of My love, do not fear.

I love you."

~Amy Carmichael~

In Time.

"The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time."

- Carl F. H. Henry -

A Thought Or Two.

"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honour, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"

- David Livingstone -

"I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light."

- John Keith Falconer -

In The Arena.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly...

~Theodore Roosevelt~

(One of my student's had to memorize this quote for Civics , and I was challenged by the man who is actually giving it his best by being in the arena...take it or leave it for what it's worth!)

Standing With The God Of The Bible.

I am a Christian because God says so, and I did what he told me to do, and I stand on God's Word and if the Book goes down, I'll go down with it. If God goes down, I'll go with Him, and if there were any other kind of God, except that God, I would have been shipwrecked long ago.

Twenty-seven years ago in Chicago I piled all I had, my reputation, my character, my wife, children, home; I staked my soul, everything I had, on the God of the Bible, and the Christ of that Bible, and I won.

~Billy Sunday~

Just Passing Along The Thought...

I may be a little biased, but I happen to think Pastor Hammett is one of the best preachers I've ever sat under... good thing since he's my pastor, huh?!? As he preached on "Personal Evangelism" in church tonight (it's a Bible Institute class but the congregation gets to get in on it too! Very practical...), one of his points was simply obedience, meaning the soul winner has to obey the Holy Spirit's leading. He then made this point....

God's leading is one step at a time. He doesn't reveal His whole plan at the very first step. As we obey Him, step by step, we can look back and say, "Ah! I can see the Lord leading me the whole way!"

Go ahead and think on it for a while...

One Day At A Time.

As April was making dinner this evening, I slipped into one of our cream colored chairs to start reading a book. My choice for the evening was a familiar author, but an unfamiliar book: "Let Me Be A Woman" by Elisabeth Elliot. This book was originally written as a wedding gift for Elisabeth's only child ~ her daughter Valerie. Containing numerous letters written before Valerie's wedding day, I was captivated by story after story, truth after truth. One story in particular sticks out to me. Bear with me as it is a little lengthy!

"The truth is that none of us knows the will of God for his life. I say for his life - for the promise is "as thou goest step by step I will open up the way before thee." He gives us enough light for today, enough strength for one day at a time, enough manna, our "daily" bread. And the life of faith is a journey from Point A to Point B, from Point B to Point C, as the people of Israel "set out and encamped in Oboth. And they set out from Oboth and encamped at Iyeabarim, in the wilderness... From there they set out and encamped on the other side of the Arnon... and from there they continued to Beer... and from the wilderness they went on to Mattannah, and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, and from Bamoth to the valley lying in the region of Moab."

So far as we know, nothing happened happened in these places. Oboth, Iyeabraim, Arnon, Beer, Mattanah, Nahaliel, Bamoth mean nothing to us. That immense crowd just kept moving. They traveled and they stopped and they made camp and packed up again and traveled some more and made another camp. They complained. There were so many complaints that even Moses, who was a very meek man, could hardly stand the sight of these whom God had called him to lead. But all the time God was with them, leading them, protecting them, hearing their cries, goading and guiding them, knowing where they were going and what His purposes were for them and He never left them.

It is not difficult when you read the whole story of God's deliverance of Israel to see how each separate incident fits into a pattern for good. We have perspective that those miserable wanderers didn't have. But it should help us to trust their God. The stages of their journey, dull and eventless as most of them were, were each a necessary part of the movement toward the fulfillment of the promise. Single life may be only a stage of a life's journey, but even a stage is a gift. God may replace it with another gift, but the receiver accepts His gifts with thanksgiving. This gift for this day. The life of faith is lived one day at a time, and it has to be lived - not always looked forward to as though the "real" living were around the next corner. It is today for which we are responsible. God still owns tomorrow."

Just some thoughts from my quiet corner of Thailand...