God is good. God is great and we thank Him for the snow.

So why should a summer-lovin’ beach goer like me do that?

Because no two snowflakes are alike.



Shawnee Inn, Pocono Mountains



     Can you imagine how many different patterns that makes? I couldn’t as I stood staring out a window one snowy night. The next morning multitudes of fluffy flakes blanketed the ground as I trudged around taking pictures. God’s magnificence was overwhelming. What a Creator!

     Have you considered the treasures of the snow? (Job 38:22) That’s just one of them.



     Another is the whiteness. It represents God’s forgiveness. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow…(Psalm 51:7).

So before it goes, let’s treasure the snow.

Lifeline: God, the Master Creator, made snow so we would know His saving power

How about you? Do you like snow?

You can leave a comment below.

How To Be Nice When You Don't Feel Like It

1. Ask questions to understand the other person’s position

2. Help them

           

            Bang, slam, rattle-rattle-rattle. What the _____ are they doing out there?

It’s 8 AM in my, usually quiet in the morning, apartment building. Commotion shatters the silence – over 20 slams and bangs. I can’t believe people are so inconsiderate. This isn’t a barnyard with animals living in here (well, yes, maybe sometimes it seems that way).

            After an hour of the same I strolled out into the hallway (strolled only because I had been praying for the past hour). Then I questioned the maintenance man:

            Is there any reason all the doors are slamming this morning?

            He’s so nice. You don’t live in a single house, you know. Just wait 'til they start putting in the new elevator. Then it will be noisy.

            Really, now, I get it, but what’s with the loud slamming this morning?

            The workmen were here to fix your neighbor’s apartment.

            Do they have to slam 3 doors every time they come in and out?

            After a little demonstration from me about how loud it was, we both figured it out. The workmen don’t have a pass key for the outside door, so maintenance leaves it open while they carry in their stuff. That creates a breezeway and doors which normally close slowly, now slam, and rattle.

            Two days later another crew came. The same happened, except this time I went out to hold one of the doors for a young fellow heavily laden with a room-sized carpet.

            Gracias.

            Yes, thank you Lord. So much easier to try to understand and be nice than yell at him and get myself upset. Maybe I’ll have to try that again sometime - figure out the other person’s dilemma and help instead of holler at them. This won’t come easy since I’m usually the yell now, ask questions later type of person.

            What do you think? Did this strategy ever work for you? Or not? Tell me about it.

Inside the Box

How lovely it looked with red satin rippled on the rim and white lace trim. Remember those heart shaped boxes of candy received or wished for in February? This one, though, hung on the wall – a remembrance from a sweetheart, but void of sweet treats.

            The inside is what is important whether it’s a box or a person. We see the outside; God peers inside. For out of the heart come the real issues of life.

            So what’s inside the heart? Love and acceptance or hatred and rejection? Peace or unrest? Let’s focus on having hearts right with God. Otherwise we’re like that cardboard box – a nice decoration, but unfulfilled.

Lifeline :  Above all else, guard your heart…..Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

1. Did you ever get one of those fancy heart shaped boxes?

2. When did you get it and who gave it to you?

Lost then Found

                                                                    

            For months I searched for a misplaced gift. Now packing for a trip, I needed it. Where did I put that new camera card? Maybe I’m wrong. Was it the one gigabyte and I already used it?

            This internal dialogue continued until I quietly asked my granddaughter (they remember such things).  How many gigabytes was that card you and dad gave me at Christmas? Not one gigabyte, but two? Oh no, I lost it!

            In July I pulled out winter coats and picked pockets. I dumped drawers and turned totes inside out. Doomed by the stupidity that it got tossed with Christmas trash, I purchased another. Sometimes we have to admit carelessness. But how painful to accept someone had given a gift I never took out of the box.

            After Thanksgiving I carried Christmas decorations from storage. Imagine my surprise, when sandwiched inside the stocking bag was a two gigabyte card.

            Sadly, some folks celebrated Christmas this year in a similar way. They never found the best gift of all – salvation offered through God’s Son, Jesus Christ.  A Savior came to give eternal life in Heaven and life on earth worth living. Salvation is a gift meant to be opened and enjoyed.  

            And speaking of enjoyment, maybe you’ve been like me lately, ungrateful. Sometimes we willingly sacrifice in December, and turn self-centered in January.

            Guess I’ll rummage through a bag of holiday decorations before I store them and see if I can find any more surprises. Here's one written on a teddy bear's tag:  In you, O Lord, do I put my trust…let me never be put to shame or [have my hope in you] disappointed...Psm. 31:1(Amplified)

That’s a Lifeline worth holding on to all year.

1. Have you ever lost something when unwrapping presents? What was it and did you find it?

2. Tell me how someone encouraged you this month.

Sunny in January

Thank God for a day that’s warm and sunny in January. Here in the Northeast we’re in our winter season. I’d like to delete all the cold, windy, dreary days from the calendar. Winter is like the trials we all go through. Wouldn’t you like to skip them too? Like today when I had to see the moving truck in my friend’s driveway. I hate saying good-bye.

            But calendars have winter months and our lives have times of trouble. Whether it’s a job loss or financial setback, a family crisis or sickness, sometimes we’re plunged into darkness. We feel alone, tired, distressed and looking for a way out of the mess. Could I please skip to another season, Lord? I’d love to be basking in the sunshine of good times instead of groping for a rope of hope.

            Then God slips in some summertime – an unexpected check or great job offer, an encouraging note or promise from God’s Word. We appreciate it more because of our need.

            I drove to the park to take advantage of the break between winter storms. Children were swinging and ducks squawking in melted pools of ice.  God tucked a sunny, forty degree day into January to remind us that …

Even in darkness [the winter seasons of life]

 light dawns for the upright,

for the gracious and compassionate

and righteous man. Psalm 112:4 (NIV)

What are your trying times? How about your "sunny" times?

A Star or a Stable?

Unable to attend my regular church, I turned on the TV and heard this lesson of the wisemen looking for a star and finding a stable. Jentezen Franklin's message on TV was clear and will stick with me for many Christmas seasons in the future. Here it is:

Many times, we think following Christ will bring us all the wonderful things we're seeking. Then we loose our job, kids rebel, spouse's have affairs and friends die. Whew, what's with all this? I thought I was doing good and all these bad things happened.

We were, like the wisemen, looking for a star, but finding a stable (just an analogy since we know they actually found him in a house a couple years later as a young child).  Here's what to do when we're trying to stay faithful during difficult times:

1. Keep Following - Don't turn back, keep on keeping on with God
2. Give Our Best - the wisemen gave their precious gifts anyway
3. Accept the Change - the wisemen went out a different way. Things make us bitter or better.
Choose to end up better. Someone once said that happens when we get our eyes off ourselves (the "i")

So if you are in a slump this Christmas, I pray you realize wise men (and women) worship and serve God in spite of whether they feel like it, everyday, not only at Christmas. And when they do, the darkness becomes brightness, God's presence strengthens and infuses us with hope.

I write this to all of you as a reminder to myself. Right after hearing that message I almost set the kitchen on fire and asked, "Could I accept that my carelessness caused a loss?" Well, thank God this time He kept it from happening. Another time, I may have to "practice what I preach" and praise God in the stable. Have a blessed Christmas enjoying God's presence.

Lifeline: Do what you have to and later you'll feel like it

                                    - Pastor Bob Taylor                            

Gratitude

Someone once said, "An attitude of gratitude is the antidote for discouragement."

We are reminded to be thankful at this time of year, but everyday we can find something to be grateful for if we look around. Can we see? Are we able to hear the sounds of nature or laughter?
Do we have a safe place to sleep, health to travel, people to talk to who care about us? Probably these and much more. But if not, we have a Saviour who came to earth to save us.



The kitchen at
George Washington's House
Valley Forge, Pa.



Many of us will sit with friends or family at a feast on Thanksgiving day. Here's something to be thankful for: all that we have gained here in America since that first Thanksgiving. And the picture here reminds us all of those who fought to give us freedom and who are still fighting to keep us safe. I'm especially glad one of our relatives returned safely this week from a 7 month overseas tour. Thank God for all in our armed forces.

And for those of you who are cooking, be especially appreciative of your kitchen facilities. Check these out that are on display at Geoge Washington's house in Valley Forge. We've got it easy. Enjoy.

Lifeline: An attitude of gratitude helps us weather the storms of life.