BISCUITS

A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.          Galatians 5:9

This morning we got up early to make many biscuits for the teachers at Lenawee Christian School.
Since it has been a long hard winter with many classroom interruptions due to the weather, a committee of the LCS Board decided to serve breakfast to the teachers as an encouragement to them.
When making biscuits one of Gail's concerns is that they will rise perfectly and not be caught in a "squat".  Squatty biscuits can be used as a hockey puck. Fortunately, all of the biscuits that were made this morning rose to the occasion due to lots of prayer. A significant ingredient in biscuits baking powder which acts like a leaven or yeast in bread.

                          Homemade biscuits fresh out of the oven.

The Jews believed that sin was much like leaven in that it can infect the entire person.  That is why the Jewish people would only eat unleaven bread.  We can look at leavening in two different ways.
It can be thought of as something negative such as sin.   An example can be found in Proverbs 20:26 where it says, "Where no wood is, the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth." All of this is to say a little negative or a little positive can affect the whole. Which would you rather have in your biscuit; joy, love, kindness, and peace or gossip, friction, backbiting and hate? When you make your batch of biscuits be sure to use the right leavening so that people can be enriched by them.

Blessings and Encouragement,

Paul, Gail, Patsy, and Penny

SNOW! SNOW! SNOW!

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater. 
    Isaiah 55:10

Snow! Snow! Snow! is the common word you hear in just about every conversation as of late.  We have certainly had an abundance of snow.  As one of your Sunday School members was leaving class this past Sunday, Paul asked him if he had big plans for the week.  His response was "probably shoveling snow."  Our sidewalk has become a narrow path with snow piled high on each side.

                 The sidewalk outside our front door before the last snow.
 

Just Monday night we received another 4" of snow, and we were contemplating how we were going to remove it from the sidewalk and driveway since neither of us is supposed to shovel snow with our recent knee and cataract surgeries.  On Tuesday morning Paul heard a snow blower running shortly after he got up and commented that our neighbor, Bruce, was up early blowing out his driveway.  A few minutes later Gail put something in the garage, and when she came back in, she said, "There is someone right out side our garage door running a snow blower."  Paul opened the garage door and there was a friend from Tecumseh, clearing our drive and ended up shoveling our sidewalk.  What a surprise and blessing! 

Spring is still a little over a  month away, but everyone seems to be eager to see spring come with green grass, blossoms on the trees, and the daffodils sticking their yellow heads up as one of the first sights of spring.  Even though we have had some beautiful snows, an early spring would be a welcome sight to almost everyone, except the people who make their money plowing snow.

                                  After winter comes spring!!!

We are thankful for a God who controls the seasons and know that spring will come.  We are not in Narnia where it is always winter and never Christmas.  Spring will come and the snows that we have had will water the earth and will help to provide nitrogen for the ground as well. 

Blessings and Encouragement,

Paul, Gail, Patsy and Penny

CLEAR VISION

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.   Philippians 2:5

Today we went to Jackson for Gail to have a cataract removed from her right eye.  The entire procedure went flawlessly for which we are very thankful.  They removed the cataract. removed an astigmatism and placed a small lens in her eye.  It is amazing what they can do now to improve one's eyesight. 

On the way to Jackson, we were talking about how things such as cataracts and other eye disorders cause your eyesight to become blurred or distorted.  This can cause big problems when driving, reading, or anytime you need your eyesight for work or pleasure.  As a result, it is hard to see things clearly as things seem to be out of focus. 

The same is true spiritually.  There are times when things come into our life such as sin or even the ideas of our culture that cause us not to be able to focus on Christ and things of the Lord because our spiritual vision has been blurred.  We are often unaware of the problem since it comes on us so gradually just like a cataract.  Before we know it we have lost our focus on the Lord as Satan has many tools in our culture that can take us farther way from the Lord than we every thought we would go.  Just like the cataract, God has to do some spiritual surgery on our heart and mind to redirect our focus back on Him.  At times that surgery may be minor and other times it may need to be a major cleansing of our spiritual eyes in order for God to get our attention. 

May we always keep our eyes on Christ.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.   Hebrews 12:1-2

Blessings and Encouragement,

Paul, Gail, Patsy and Penny

A LIGHT UNTO MY PATH

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.  Psalm 119:105

It has been interesting talking to our daughter Christiane over thee past few weeks as she has made comments about incidences where God has put her in situations with her work that could only have been orchestrated by Him. As we thought about all of the things that have happened to her, it is evident that God has prepared her for what has come her way. We look back over things that have happened to her through the years such as Lenawee Christian School's speech meets and college drama and plays that have prepared her for what she is doing now. God certainly created opportunities for her that has allowed her to shine because of the things that He has previously brought into her life.

                     A lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path


She is now claiming a verse from Philippians 3:13-14, "Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are before I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." As she moves into 2014 she is using this verse to help guide her with the goals that she sets and the direction she takes.

As far as Gail and Paul are concerned, we have seen how God has directed our paths in many ways.
From bringing the two of us together by way of a blind date to Paul's call from the public school to Christian education and finally to Lenawee Christian School, we have seen God's direction and guidance. God brought many varied experiences into Paul's life that prepared him for the various roles that he served at Lenawee Christian. Gail's involvement in the art world started with tole painting and progressed to the pastel work that she creates whether it be a portrait or landscape. God has brought some amazing things in her direction that has helped to guide her in her art endeavor.

                                           Ponder the Path
                                            Pastel Painting

We challenge anyone reading this blog to try to identity how God has directed and guided your life even though there may have been many ups and downs that may have come your way.

Blessings and Encouragement,

Paul, Gail, Patsy, and Penny