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• Nov. 17, 2008
God is God -- (and He is good too!)

Last week was yucky.  I know, that is not an opening line you would expect with this title but, never the less, it is true.  Last week was really yucky.

We were robbed ..... twice.  We have been working on one of our rental properties, fixing it up to sell it.  Thursday night we went down to work on it and found that Jay's miter saw, air compressor and nail gun were missing.  Saturday when we went back a ladder was gone along with a heater.  The robbers were apparently going to steal some of the copper pipes as well until they cut one and found that the water was on.  So they also left a cut water line which left water gushing out into a bathroom from Thursday night till Saturday morning. 

On top of this, we have another rental house in which the renter is over 1 1/2 months behind in rent and is due for another month in the next 10 days.

Last week was yucky.

So what makes me say that God is God and He is good too? 

Yesterday we went to church.  I know, that is not news, we go to church everytime the doors are open.  But yesterday when we went to church, we were hurting.  Just the really down, defeated feeling that creeps in when life's pressures seem so huge.  I appreciate the Psalms so much, because you read of people crying out from the depths of their soul to God.  They pour out their pain before Him, yet they acknowledge Him as faithful.  That is where I was yesterday morning.  I knew that God was faithful, yet I was still in the place of pouring out my pain to Him. 

First, the entire day seemed to be directed precisely to my heart.  From Sunday School, to the music, to the sermon.  All of it spoke of God's sovereignty.  It pointed to the fact that, even when we can see no evidence of it, God is always working His master plan.  I spent much of the morning crying as I felt my Father speak to my heart, "Don't fear, I am working.  Look at the birds of the air, they neither toil nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than these?"

During the evening service I realized something.  We were singing and I realized something.  I was singing without the slightest tinge of tears!  I was smiling!  I had peace!  How had this happened?  Nothing had changed, no giant check had come in the mail, none of our stuff had been returned.  But my Father had stepped in and filled me with His peace that passes understanding.  And He had done it without me even noticing.  After church I found that Jay had the same experience.  I really expected God to work.  I just expected that He would do something to change my circumstance.  He didn't.  But He gave me something better.  He gave me himself, and that is enough.  I know that in time He will provide the rest, but it will be in His time, not mine, and I am okay with that.  Right now I rest in the fact that God is God, and because of that, I know that He is good, all the time.

Shannon

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• Oct. 19, 2008
God's Providence

We got to hear an excellent sermon on God's providence tonight.  It was based on Exodus 2:1-10.  I would like to share with you one quote and a few application points.  I hope they will encourage you in whatever situation you may find yourself in.

Shannon

"What is your only comfort in life and death?  - That I, with body and soul, both in life and in death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ who...so preserves me that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must work together for my salvation."  (Heidelberg Catechism, 1563)

1.  God is bigger than my problems.

2.  God is not limited by circumstances like we are.

3.  No power on earth can thwart God in doing His will.

4.  Gos is working in ways bigger than our personal circumstances.

5.  God is using our personal circumstances in ways bigger than our ability to understand.

6.  Gos will provide the resources to do His will.

7.  Divine providence should cause God's people to rest in Him and His will.

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• Sep. 28, 2008
Day of Rest?

I can not say that this was the most restful day of rest I have ever had but it was fun.  We started our morning at church (of course).  After a wonderful service that was focused on the temple veil being torn in two allowing us access to God's throneroom (Praise The Lord!) it was off to the races.

We split up girls and boys for the afternoon.  Jay and Timmy were invited to go to the Cardinal game with friends.  They had great seats, only twelve rows back!  On top of that the Cardinals won 11-4!  The down side, Timmy has no idea what baseball is all about.  He had no idea why everyone was sitting out in the blazing sun for so long.  In the middle of the 1st inning he was begging to go home.  Jay did a lot of walking with him.  To his relief, Timmy fell asleep in the 5th inning and slept through the 8th.

Sarah and I had the opportunity to go to Six Flags with friends.  Because of the crazy prices we haven't been to Six Flags since Sarah was 5.  It was hot, but it was fun.  3 hours is not a lot of time to spend at Six Flags, so it was somewhat of a whirlwind.  Sarah braved the Batman roller coaster for the first time.  Though I thought she might pass out before she even got on, she ended up really liking it.

After our afternoon outings it was back to church for AWANA and women's bible study, followed by a service focused on the resurrection of Christ.  Our pastor shared something I had not thought of before.  In talking about the fact that the priests, with Pilate's help, posted a gaurd around the tomb; God used the enemies of Christ to prove His resurrection!  How like God to use the foolishness of men to forward His plan!

After church was the only sad time of our day.  Dear friends are preparing to move away to help out at another church.  While we are excited at what God has in store for them, we are very sorry to see them go.  It is never fun to say goodbye.  We have only known them for 2 years now and it has not been long enough.  It is times like this that it becomes more evident that God created us for eternity.  Life was never meant to have the limits that were created by the fall.  How good it is to know that one day we will never have to say goodbye again.

Shannon

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• Sep. 8, 2008
Bible Rant

Alright, I know that is a somewhat misleading title.  I am not upset over the actual Bible.  I am, however, miffed at the Bible I just purchased my daughter.

It is called the True Images Bible for girls.  My daughter saw it at a Christian bookstore and told us she would really like to have one.  It has a really cool pink and brown (they call it bubble gum and chocolate) cover with a belt around it.  She was overcome by the cuteness of it I guess!  Anyway, I looked it up online and it looked pretty neat so I ordered her one.

Needless to say I was somewhat taken aback by the inserts in the bible.  It has several magazine like inserts scattered throughout the Bible.  These are on full color, thicker, shiny paper and contain different quizzes for the girls to take.  Some of them are good, there is a spiritual gifts quiz, parent/child relationship quiz and friends quiz.  Then there are others.  These deal with dating (a.k.a. divorce practice).  Okay, so I have strong opinions on dating that I know not everyone shares but these particular inserts don't even attempt to make a biblical connection.  They are nothing different than what you would find on the magazine rack at the store.  There is an insert on your self-image which includes this question with the following answers:

At the top of this year's New Year's resolutions list is ...

• A.  Start lifting weights - you heard it's good for your bones.
• B.  Work on that muscle tone - no more dreading swimsuit season.
• C.  Lose 15 pounds and buy a push-up bra - the new me!

Now, could you please tell me what place that has in a Bible!?! 

Then there are the 'ever so inspirational' reflections from the other side which have quotes from boys.  Here is one:

• What makes you ask a girl on a second date?  My dream girl...if I went out with a girl and had fun and was able to hold an interesting/funny conversation with her and was also attracted to her, then I would certainly ask her out again.

Well, fabulous, so if my daughter reads this she will think all she has to do is be attractive and be able to talk and she will make the perfect date.  No need to be devoted to Christ, just cute and funny.  Good grief!  Zondervan really let the ball drop when they published this Bible with these pages in it.

In the interest of fairness I want to say that we are keeping the bible.  I know that sounds strange after all that I have just said, but the actual bible and study helps in it are good.  It has an introduction to each book to give a grasp of the setting.  There are profiles of all the women in the bible, good and bad, so that girls can learn from their examples.  There are little study notes throughout that are helpful.  But, we will be cutting out the 'magazine' pages.  I have no intention of bringing pagan teen magazines into my house and I will certainly not have them coming in through my daughter's bible.

Shannon

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• Aug. 29, 2008
Magazine Madness

I bought a magazine yesterday.  It was full of excellent coupons, and since the coupons would more than make up the $1.77 it cost to purchase I brought it home.

As I was flipping through to see the coupons I realized that I would have to do some doctoring before I could just leave this magazine lying around.  This is a very general magazine filled with recipes, family fun ideas, etc. and for the most part the ads are family friendly.  But there were three pictures of women wearing only underwear!  This is not to mention just the general lack of decency in the clothing choices of some who were pictured.

I was struck by the reality of how diligent we have to be to protect the purity level in our homes.  So many seemingly 'innocent' things are filled with words and images that, not too many years ago, would have been considered pornographic.  We have been desensitized to this because we are inundated with it daily.  You can not step foot outside your home without reading or seeing something that you would not have chosen to see.  That is why it is so important that we make our homes a haven of purity.  We should be shocked when we are 'assaulted' by impure images.

So, last night I took a black magic marker and put clothes on the undressed ladies, and made some alterations to some necklines on some 'under-dressed' ladies.  It may seem trivial, my 10 year old giggled at me doing it.  But I pray that I sent a message that those kinds of things are not okay.  Just because it's an ad for underwear does not make it okay for us to look at someone wearing only their underwear.  I pray that it will never be said of us that "we have forgotten how to blush."  (Jeremiah 6:15 = Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct?  No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush.  So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them, says the Lord.)

Shannon

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• Aug. 29, 2008
The Most Important Thing

I came across this quote that I wanted to share with you:

"If we fail to pass on our faith to the next generation, then any other success is insignificant by comparison.  Our objective, then, is to raise up the foundations of many Godly generations by training our children to be Christ-centered, fruit-producing disciple-makers."

Dewey Novotny

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• Jun. 22, 2008
A prayer for times of trial

There are times when trials press hard on our lives and we find exactly how strong our faith is.  God, in His goodness and mercy, uses these times of trial to teach us to depend on him more fully.  This song is a beautiful heart cry from one whose desire is to be 'conformed into the likeness of His son' (Rom. 8:29) through the trials of life.

Shannon

Jesus, Draw Me Ever Nearer                   By Margaret Becker

Jesus, draw me ever nearer, as I wander through the storm.  You have called me to this passage, and I'll follow, though I'm worn.

May this journey bring a blessing, may I rise on wings of faith.  And at the end of my hearts testing, with your likeness let me wake.

Jesus, guide me through the tempest, keep my spirit staid and sure.  And when the midnight meets the morning, let me love you even more.

May this journey bring a blessing, may I rise on wings of faith.  And at the end of my hearts testing, with your likeness let me wake.

Let the treasures of the trial, form within me as I go.  And at the end of this long passage, let me leave them at your throne.

May this journey bring a blessing, may I rise on wings of faith.  And at the end of my hearts testing, with your likeness let me wake.

 

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• Apr. 19, 2008
Wisdom from C.S. Lewis

I was reading again in C.S. Lewis' book "The Problem of Pain" in a chapter entitled "Human Wickedness".  This particular paragraph really grabbed me and I wanted to share it here. 

"Some modern theologians have, quite rightly, protested against an excessively moralistic interpretation of Christianity.  The holiness of God is something more and other than moral perfection.  His claim upon us is something more and other than the claim of moral duty.  I do not deny it:  but this conception, like that of corporate guilt, is very easily used as an evasion of the real issue.  God may be more than moral goodness:   but He is not less.  The road to the promised land runs past Sinai.  The moral law may exist to be transcended: but ther is no transcending it for those who have not first admitted its claims upon them, and then tried with all their strength to meet that claim, and fairly and squarely faced the fact of their failure."

 

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• Apr. 2, 2008
A dialogue

I would like to share with you a dialogue that took place in my mind a short while ago.  First let me share with you a little background information.  If you read my last post you will find that I got some significant deals at Walgreens this week.  Well, while going over my receipt after posting that information I realized there seemed to be an error.  While checking out there was trouble with one of my coupons.  I had two identical $1 off coupons and I purchased two identical products.  The first coupon rang up no problem, the second would not be accepted.  The manager could find no way to fix it in the midst of the transaction so she rang it up then returned the item, re-rang the coupon, it worked fine, and she gave me back my $1.07 (with tax), the issue was solved and I went home happy.

Well, in looking over my original receipt I noticed that there were 10 items purchased and 10 coupon discounts.  Uh-oh, I looked again, yep, 10 discounts.  That means that what probably happened is the checker rang my $1 off coupon once without knowing it so when she tried to ring it again it would not register.  The following is what went on in my mind upon this realization:

Me:  Cool, an extra $1!

:  Um, excuse me, isn't that stealing?

Me:  Oh...yeah.

:  What are you talking about, Walgreens stuff is so high priced they will never miss that dollar!

:  That may be true but it is still stealing.

Me:  You are right, I am going to take that money back to Walgreens.

:  First of all, they probably won't even take it so why bother.  Secondly, don't you remember that you had that $1 off coupon on the toothbrush that you forgot to use.  This dollar just makes up for that one.

Me:  That's right!

:  That sounds great except Walgreens did not get that coupon so they will not get the money for it.

Me:  You are right again.  The money goes back.

:  Wow, you are really committed to doing the right thing here.  You must be a very righteous person.

My very last thought on this subject came directly from the Lord.  "What a wretched person I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death!  Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Rom. 7:24-25)  It made me realize once again that apart from the amazing grace of our Lord Jesus Christ even our good deeds are steeped in our own sin and pride!  How humbling that is to know.  Apart from him we have no capacity for pure good.

Amazed by His grace,

Shannon

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• Mar. 29, 2008
For Everything a Season

Yes, it's true, there is a season for everything under heaven.  And to the list found in Ecclesiastes I could add, "A time to be busy and a time for slowing down."

It has been a season of busyness in our lives as of late but I can feel the peace of a slower pace starting to settle over me like a warm blanket again.  I am the type that likes a certain amount of busyness in my life.  I am motivated when I have several things to accomplish.  But I spent the last month feeling like I had just one or two things more to think about than was healthy!  The past week however has been blessedly slow however.    It is nice to just sit and think for a while.

I have been reminded of the importance of following the Lord's command to "Be still and know that I am God."  It seems that in our times of extreme busyness, when we have much to accomplish it is easy to begin to think that we are indispensible.  It is important to stop and realize every once in a while that, while God has a purpose for us while we are here, HE alone is God and He alone is in control.  The world was spinning just fine before we got here and it will continue to spin just fine when we are gone.  Well, at least I need to remember that.

Taking time to rest in Him,

Shannon

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• Mar. 3, 2008
Time to regroup

How is it that there can be several weeks in a row that seem to fly by you unnoticed?  One minute you are in control and on top of things and the next you wonder how the tornado went through your house without you realizing it!  What do you mean it's Friday, it was Monday yesterday?!?  You mean it's time for that appointment already!

The past couple weeks have been like that for me.  In fact we took last week off of school so that we could play catch up in the rest of life.  The fact is, if we hadn't set out to take the week off we would have had to because someone seemed to notice that we had padded our schedule with extra time and came swooping in to fill it up.

In times like these when all of life seems to be a swirling whirlwind of chaos it is comforting to know that we serve a God who does not change and is not at all disturbed by the things in life that seem to set us spinning.  He is still on His throne and in control so I need not worry.  I know that in time life will settle down to normal.  (whatever that is.)  And in the meantime I can trust that no matter how crazy life is, God will not be moved!

Shannon

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• Feb. 13, 2008
Set apart to the Lord

I have been reading in Exodus this week.  Today it was chapter 35, and I have been thinking a lot about how we are supposed to be holy, and set apart to the Lord.  God spent a lot of time giving Moses regulations for his people that would set them apart from the surrounding nations.

We are still supposed to be that different.  In the New Testament it says that our actions should cause the people around us to "glorify our Father which is in heaven".  This involves more than just being a good person.  There are many 'good people' around and I do not notice the people around giving the credit to God.  No, our conduct, our very lives, should be so marked that people do not have to guess the source of the difference.  It should be obvious that everything that we are is dedicated to the Lord.  This is a humbling realization.

Something else that I noticed in Exodus 35 was that it spoke a lot about those that the Lord had gifted with certain skills using them in his service.  Do we realize that daily, that the ways the Lord has gifted us are for use in his service.  Do we willingly offer our talents, wether it is sewing, cooking, cleaning, building, teaching, preaching, or singing.  No matter what it is that God has made us able to do, do we offer those abilities back to him to further his kingdom, or do we use those abilities soley for our own pleasure or fulfillment?

God help us daily to examine our hearts and be sure they are wholly dedicated to you.

Shannon

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• Jan. 29, 2008
Feeling Better

It's been a long weekend.  I am finally starting to recover from a head cold.  It is just lingering on and on and on.   Anyway, I have had worse.  I am just tired of single-handedly keeping Kleenex in business.

This weekend I have been reminded that our time on this earth is not the main event.  It is merely dress rehearsal for eternity.  A dear friend's mother passed away.  When he told us he said she was, "promoted to glory."  I loved that.  It made me cry, but it also made me think.  For a believer, for those who spend their lives living by faith, to finally have that faith made sight!  To have hope fulfilled!  To be face to face with the one who saved you from yourself!  That is what all of life is building to.  It is not really about the here and now.  Our time here is a blip on the screen of eternity.  What we do here and now matters only in how it effects eternity.  Lord, help me to live like that.

Shannon

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• Jan. 25, 2008
A painful truth

I am still reading C.S. Lewis' "The Problem of Pain".  The following is a quote from chapter four, "Man's Wickedness".  He uses some difficult words that I don't know what they mean like "Quixotic" but I think from the context you can get the general idea:

...many of us have had the experience of living in some local pocket of human society--some particular school, college, regiment or profession where the tone was bad.  And inside that pocket certain actions were regarded as merely normal, (everyone does it) and certain others as impracticably virtuous and Quixotic.  But when we emerged from that bad society we made the horrible discovery that in the outer world our 'normal' was the kind of thing that no decent person ever dreamed of doing, and our 'Quixotic' was taken for granted as the minimum standard of decency.  What had seemed to us fantastic scruples so long as we were in the 'pocket' now turned out to be the only moments of sanity we there enjoyed.  It is wise to face the possibility that the whole human race (being a small thing in the universe) is, in fact, just such a local pocket of evil--an isolated bad school or regiment inside which minimum decency passes for heroic virtue and utter corruption for pardonable imperfection.

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• Jan. 23, 2008
Forwarding E-mails - Living as people of truth

In my last post I mentioned my frustration at receiving forwarded e-mails that were untrue.  This is frustrating to me on several levels.  For one, it is so easy to check them out to see if they are true.  In my last post I gave a link to Urban Legends site.  In 2 minutes or less I can verify the truth or falsehood of an e-mail and I have incredibly slow dial-up service. 

Another reason I am discouraged by these e-mails is that most of the time I get them from Christians.  We are called to be light in this dark world that we live in.  When we send things that are not true I am afraid that we propogate the notion that Christians are unthinking people who are led strictly by our emotions.  We are called to a higher standard and this places a huge responsibility on our shoulders to test and prove everything we hear or read before repeating it.  (This is somewhat of a side note but one of the things I have found in studying the truth or falsehood of e-mails is that if you get an e-mail that says "so and so will contribute so much money to this charity for everytime you forward this e-mail" it is a lie.  There is currently no way to track e-mails.  Also, e-mail petitions have no effect on the people they are sent to  because there is no way to verify that the people listed are real people.  These are two types of e-mails you can discount without even having to look them up.)

Another type of e-mail that concerns me are those that end with a tag line that says something like one of the following:

          "If you love Jesus you will forward this to 10 people, if you don't then just delete it."

          "Forward this to 10 people in the next 10 minutes and you will receive a blessing."

The bible says that we prove our love of Jesus by obeying his commands and loving others.  It says nothing about forwarding e-mails.  And God is certainly not a genie in a bottle who gives out blessings because of our forwarding e-mails.  We must be careful not to say anything about God that he does not say about Himself.  I have gotten many moving, inspirational stories through e-mails that have been tagged with lines like these.  If I forward them on I always take off that line.  It is easy to do.  If we send something like that to an unbeliever we are putting into their minds a falsehood about who God is.  We are not being true to his character.

I hope I have not come across as angry or mean spirited in this post.  That is not what I wanted to do.  I am just truly convinced that God wants us to be light in this world and we must be very careful about protecting our witness.  We must be faithful in all we do or say, wether in person or over the internet.

Shannon

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• Jan. 23, 2008
Be Content

Sometimes I have a tendency to focus on the things that go wrong with a day.  All the little things.  Sometimes big problems are swirling around and I tend to feel sucked under.  I read something in "Stepping Heavenward" that really spoke to me in it's profound simplicity.  Unfortunately I can not find it so I can't quote it exactly but here is the general idea.  The writer was going through a very trying time in her life but this is what she said:

My husband is happy with his wife and his home, so it has been a good day.

Wow, if I could just remember that mentality.  It is enough that my family is content.  Even more than that, it is enough if I know that I have pleased God.  No matter what kind of nonsense is swirling about me, no matter what kind of trials I am going through, if at the end of the day I have submitted my will to God's it has been a good day.

Shannon

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• Jan. 18, 2008
A living sacrifice

I was listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg this afternoon, which by the way, if you are not a regular listener to, let me encourage you to make it part of your routine.

Anyway, he was talking about our lives being a living sacrifice, and I was reminded again of the totality of what that means.  It goes beyond going to church, praying and even reading your bible every day.  It means your all.  Every minute, every day, doing all to the glory of God.  Do I remember that when I am doing laundry for the 15th time this week?  Do I think of glorifying God when I do the dishes or sweep the floor.  Do I realize that when I am going over multiplication facts or vocabulary lists that God expects me to be glorifying him?  Not some forced, false act of piety, but a continual dependence on Him to do what He has called me to do, whether that is a big thing or a seemingly mundane thing.  I am called to be a living sacrifice.  To lay aside my natural, sinful, human desires and live in the will of Christ.

Shannon

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• Jan. 15, 2008
Food for thought

The following is an excerpt for C.S. Lewis' "The Abolition of Man":

The rebellion of new ideologies against the [law of God] is a rebellion of the branches against the tree:  if the rebels could succeed they would find that they had destroyed themselves.  The human mind has no more power of inventing a new value than of imagining a new primary color, or, indeed, of creating a new sun and a new sky for it to move in.

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• Jan. 13, 2008
A prayer for worship

"Speak, O Lord"   words by Keith Getty and Stuart Townsend

Speak, O Lord, as we come to you to receive the food of your holy word.  Take your truth, plant it deep in us; shape and fashion us in your likeness.  That the light of Christ might be seen today, in our acts of love and our deeds of faith.  Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us all your purposes for your glory.

Teach us Lord, full obedience, holy reverence, true humility.  Test our thoughts and our attitudes in the radience of your purity.  Cause our faith to rise, cause our eyes to see your majestic love and authority.  Words of power that can never fail, let their truth prevail over unbelief.

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds, help us grasp the heights of your plans for us.  Truths unchanged from the dawn of time that will echo down through eternity.  And by grace we'll stand on your promises and by faith we'll walk as you walk with us.  Speak, O Lord, till your church is built, and the earth is filled with your glory.

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• Jan. 12, 2008
Good Friends

"Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel."  Prov. 27:9

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."  Prov. 27:17

What a blessing it is to have good friends.  To be able to fellowship wtih those who love the Lord is a gift beyond compare.

Yesterday we had the priviledge of being able to both begin and end our day in the company of fellow believers.  While the middle of the day felt like an absolute whirlwind when I went to sleep last night I felt not exhaustion, but the peace of knowing that it had been a good and productive day.  Truly we felt the "pleasantness" and the "sharpening" spoken of in the Proverbs listed above.

Shannon

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