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One often sees a call only in retrospect.
This too is God's design. God often reinforces our faith after we trust him,
not before. Ravi Zacharias
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God is the shaper of your heart. God does
not display his work in abstract terms. He prefers the concrete, and this
means that at the end of your life one of three things will happen to your
heart: it will grow hard, it will be broken, or it will be tender. Nobody
escapes. Ravi Zacharias
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You now know more about me than you probably
ever wanted to but you have stuck with me through all the stories of everyday
life. To recap some of the highlights of
this journey, you were with me when I rebuilt Gladys Knight and the Pips condo,
caught Lou the lizard red-handed taking a bite out of my tomatoes and then
there was fishing and catching poison ivy.
We talked about aging gracefully, mayhaws & chainsaws and Pepe Le
Pew. We discussed deregulation, how exclusions
apply and fine print. You were there when I took a tumble off my front porch
and also when I fell in the parking lot.
You’ve taken a trip down memory lane and
visited Green Acres, the Blue Light Special and a trip to the Diamond Mines. We’ve talked about squirrels, horses, pandas,
pigs and a car driving dog. You were
with me through a chair snafu, a blowout and trading cars. You were there when
boxes got stuck to the front of my car and again when I asked the guy to mow my
grass.
I have had more people tell me I’m funny and
they love my perspective on things and life in general, but I just don’t see
it. When I was growing up I was quiet,
shy and reserved and no one laughed much at anything I said. My grandfather used to sit with us around a
campfire and tell stories. Maybe I got
my story telling ability or lack thereof from him.
Over the past year and a half I have learned
some things too. Each one of you is
special because you have a thirst for God. Some of you are at the beginning of
your journey, others in the middle and many near the end. It doesn’t matter
where in your journey you are; the most important thing is you are not
alone. I thank God for each of you
because it reinforces my faith in humanity.
There are good people in the world who love and care about each
other. We are part of the family of God
and no one can take that from us.
I will close with this. God can and does use anyone for His purposes
if we let Him. It took a great leap of
faith for me to stick my neck out and write something that others could read.
Many times my fear of rejection would almost stop me from writing. During those times I would pray to the Father
for strength and courage. Many of you
have encouraged me and continued to follow me daily just to see what I will say
next. I thank each of you for continuing to read and I pray that God will bless
you in your journey.
P.S. I
have more stories where these came from so stay tuned. Until God tells me to stop, I will continue
to throw out thoughts to ponder.
Prayer for the Day:
Heavenly Father, without You I wouldn’t have reached this milestone. I praise You for my brothers and sisters in
Christ. In a world where violence,
cruelty and hate have become the norm; there are still Christians who thirst
for Your Word and who love and care for each other. You are an amazing God who offered an amazing
Son as a sacrifice to save us. Christmas
is a time of worship and praise for an unbelievable gift.
Scripture: Then
he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to
be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For
whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for
me and for the gospel will save it. What
good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what
can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful
generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his
Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Mark 8:34-38
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