Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.                                                                   Psalms 119:11

 Every Tuesday Gail goes to the Lenawee Medical Care Facility to visit with some of the residents. One of them, Clara Stevens, has a real passion for memorizing Scripture. So Gail spends much of her time with Clara working on Scripture memory. For someone who is approaching her mid- nineties, this is certainly noteworthy. Clara and Gail have been working on the 23^rd Psalm and Isaiah 12:2.  Since Clara cannot read due to failing eyesight, she depends on Gail to help her with the words.

 Clara not only evokes this passion for Scripture memory, but also loves the study of the meaning of each word. For instance, in Isaiah 12:2 in the King James it says, “He also is become my salvation.” The word “is” excites Clara because it is present tense, not past or future, but “is” become my salvation. When she talks about this, there is such a gleam in her eyes that conveys her love for God’s Word. It is amazing for someone of her age to have such an active enthusiasm for study and memorization of Scripture. She demonstrates great determination and perfection in “getting it right” when it comes to memorization. She doesn’t quit until she has perfected it.

 This is a challenge to all of us, no matter our age, to include memorization and study of God’s Word in our daily spiritual disciplines. We take time to feed and groom our body on a daily basis, but the cultivation of our soul should be even more important. Job said, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” (Job 23:12b)

 Blessings and Encouragement,

 

Paul, Gail, Patsy, and Penny

Whatsoever the hand findeth to do do it with thy might.  Ecclesiastes 9:10a

 If any of you happen to know our daughter, Christiane, you understand that she lives life to the fullest and with great gusto. As we are writing this blog, she is boarding a plane with her destination being France for the next three weeks. Even though she took French in high school and college, she has been spending the past nine months in an intense French language program. The students were allowed to only speak French during a four hour class period. She began this advanced study in French as soon as she completed in MBA at Indiana University. Now she hopes to refine her French by speaking with relatives for the next three weeks.  Our intention is not to sound like we are bragging about one of our children,  but the point we want to make is that she desires to live every minute of her life to the fullest.

                                  Christiane baking a pie with Logan

 

Since August of 2012, Christiane has completed her MBA, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, hiked from the north rim to the south rim of the Grand Canyon, traveled to over twenty states in the United States for her business, acted as  a consultant for Junior Achievement groups around Atlanta, spent several days in California to help her brother, Roger, settle in his condo, is now traveling to France for three weeks to visit many relatives, and, most importantl,y has a real passion to seek the will of God. She has a very vibrant and growing relationship with her Lord and Savior. These are just a few of the things that display in zest for life. Our daughter has really challenged us to live every minute of our lives to the fullest.

 This somewhat parallels the mission statement that Paul wrote many years ago and that Gail has recorded in her Bible as a reminder:

                              “Undaunted pursuit of the will of God,
                     always looking for what God would have me to do.”

 Blessings and Encouragement,

 Paul, Gail, Patsy and Penny

Ten Prayers of an Intentional Christian

Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom  to the right or to the left;  Joshua 23:6

This past Sunday we attended Shelter Cove Community Church, which was a very friendly and alive church.  The associate pastor spoke on being an intentional Christian and used Joshua 23 and 24 as his reference.  During his message he shared 10 aspects of being an intentional Christian.  He used the passage from Joshua that tells of Joshua's challenge to the leaders of the Israelites and then to the Israelites themselves. 

From this passage we were given a bookmark that contains the 10 points of being an intentional Christian.  They were:

God, help me...

• Be Strong and Obedient to You.  (Joshua 23:6-7)
• To Cling to You and Carefully Honor You.  (Joshua 23:8-11)
• Have Healthy Relationships that Honor You.  (Joshua 23:12-13)
• To Completely Trust You.  (Joshua 23:14-16)
• Fear You and Serve You with Total Sincerity.  (Joshua 24:14)
• Rid myself of Anything that is Hindering my Relationship with You.  (Joshua 24:14)
• Be willing to Stand Alone for You.  (Joshua 24:15)
• Live as an Example so Others Know how to Follow You.  (Joshua 24:15)
• Boldly Minister to Others in My Sphere of Influence for You.  (Joshua 24:16-20)
• To Not Straddle the Fence in my Commitment to You.  (Joshua 24:21)

These are Ten Prayers of an intentional Christian.

What a great challenge from Joshua himself as we live our daily lives.

Blessings and Encouragement,

Paul, Gail, Patsy and Penny

Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.                      I Timothy 4:12

Graduation

Being in education in Michigan all these years, we have been invited to numerous graduation open houses to celebrate this milestone in the life of the graduate. Early on, it was a struggle to provide an appropriate gift for the graduate. It was always difficult to land on something that would be meaningful. A number of years ago, we came up with an idea of giving a framed Scriptural challenge.  We searched and searched God's Word and finally noted Paul's challenge to Timothy in
I Timothy 4.

So, we decided to take this portion of Scripture and put it in calligraphy form on special paper that is placed in a nice frame. We felt this was something that they could take to college with them and hang on their dorm wall to remind them of God's challenge to them. We have been doing that since the late nineties and have had parents tell us that their son or daughter still has it in their room. These words from I Timothy 4 are not only words to challenge but are also words that encourage a young person in their walk with the Lord.

Blessings and Encouragement,

Paul, Gail, Patsy, and Penny