July 11, 2003 V1N19
Take it most of you are managing to survive the summer heat. Sometimes it's easy to lose track of...
What's Important
My father used to ask me what the most important part of the body is.
Through the years I would take a guess at what I thought was the correct answer.
When I was younger, I thought sound was very important to us as humans,
so I said, "My ears, dad."
He said, "No. Many people are deaf. But you keep thinking about it and I will ask you again soon." Several years passed before he asked me again.
Since making my first attempt, I had contemplated the correct answer. So
this time I told him, "Dad, sight is very important to everybody, so it must be our eyes."
He looked at me and told me, "You are learning fast, but the answer is not correct because there are many people who are blind."
Stumped again, I continued my quest for knowledge and over the years, Dad asked me a couple more times and always his answer was, "No. But you are getting smarter every year, my son."
Then last year, my grandpa died. Everybody was hurt. Everybody was crying.
My Dad looked at me when it was our turn to say our final good-bye to Grandpa. He asked me, "Do you know the most important body part yet, my son?"
I was shocked when he asked me this now. I always thought this was a game between he and me. He saw the confusion on my face and told me, "This question is very important. It shows that you have really lived in your life. For every body part you gave me in the past, I have told you were wrong and I have given you an example why. But today is the day you need to learn this important lesson."
He looked down at me as only a dad can. I saw his eyes well up with tears. He said, "My son, the most important body part is your shoulder."
I asked, "Is it because it holds up my head?"
He replied, "No, it is because it can hold the head of a friend or a loved one when they cry. Everybody needs a shoulder to cry on sometime in life, my son. I only hope that you have enough love and friends that you will always have a shoulder to cry on when you need it."
Then and there I knew the most important body part is not a selfish one. It is sympathetic to the pain of others.
People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will NEVER forget how you made them feel.
-author unknown- Submitted by Dale Clark
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Wait
Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried.
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait!"
"'Wait?', you say, wait!" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By FAITH I have asked, and am claiming your Word.
"My future and all to which I can relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to WAIT?
I'm needing a 'yes,' a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.
"And Lord, you promised that if we believe
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!"
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."
So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting. . .for what?"
He seemed then to kneel and His eyes wept with mine,
And he tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.
All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want--but, you wouldn't know ME.
"You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint;
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;
You'd not know the joy of resting in me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.
"You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of my Spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know that I give and I save. . .(for a start),
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of my heart.
"The glow of my comfort late into the night.
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.
"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that 'My grace is sufficient for thee.'
Yes, your dreams for your loved ones overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss! if I lost what I'm doing in you!
"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
THAT THE GREATEST OF GIFTS IS TO GET TO KNOW ME.
And though my answers seem terribly late,
My wisest of answers is still but to WAIT."
-Author Unknown-Submitted by Sara Kane
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Verse of the Week
Are all you guys trying to tell me there hasn't been a solitary scripture in all your lives that's worth sharing?
I'm at the library so I can't make a quick dash for my Bible, but I would like to point out that guys like David and Moses, even though they made some bad mistakes they were still called Man After God's Own Heart and Friend of God.
Looks like God holds out hope for the rest of us.
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Prayer & Praise
As the time of registering for YBS in coming close, please keep the young people who would like to go but aren't sure if the can, or if they cannot, in your prayers. That first of all, the young people would trust the Lord, no matter what the result is. And 2nd, that by God's grace, that they would joyfully take their place under their parents authority and thirdly, that the young people could experience a Youth Bible School in their hearts at home! ---A sister in Christ
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Word Study
By AprilRose Pilgrim
The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: Thou maintainest my lot.
Psalm 16:5
Omit the word is from this verse, it is in italic type in my Bible. I read that words in italic are words added when the Bible was translated into English. The verse then reads;
The Lord, the portion of mine inheritance..... Same meaning, yet in a deeper sense.
Portion:
an individuals lot, fate, or fortune; ones share of good or evil.
such things as belonged, part, lot.
Lot:
share, ones way of life or worldly fate, fortune.
portion, destiny.
Cup:
Something that falls to ones lot, Lot.
This whole chapter is very beautiful, I would encourage all to read it. Psalm 16
All definitions from Websters Dictionary or Strongs Bible Concordance.
suggestions? phrases, words, verses? Please email me applerp@yahoo.com
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Selected Sayings
1. If Jesus is your best friend, say so to your other friends.
2. You can't control the length of your life--but you can control its width and depth. You can't control the contour of your faith--but you can control its expression. You can't control the weather--but you can control the atmosphere of your mind. Why worry about things you can't control when you can keep busy controlling the things that depend on you?
3. Truth knows no compromise. Truth is not concerned about who it makes happy. Truth does not use manipulation through mind games. Truth is not something established by a vote of the masses. -Curt Mortimer
4. It would be a better world if more people who have to take detours would enjoy the scenery.
Smiley
A minister parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because he was short of time and couldn't find a space with a meter. So he put a note under the windshield wiper that read: "I have circled the block 10 times. If I don't park here, I'll miss my appointment. FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES." When he returned, he found a citation from a police officer along with this note. "I've circled this block for 10 years. If I don't give you a ticket, I'll lose my job. LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION."
Thanks for those who have returned their surveys. If you haven't sent yours in yet, please do so. If your survey got lost in cyberspace feel free to ask for another. Please note I will not publish names but I will publish the combined results and your comments unless you request otherwise.
The e-mail address is ready4anything_2003@yahoo.com and the website is www.oocities.org/ready4anything_2003. May God ship an extra blessing your way today!
Staff: Editor in Chief: Jesus Christ
Assistant Editors: Jamie Scharf & April Pilgrim
Contributers: Dale Clark
Deborah Epp
April Pilgrim
Sara Kane
Bulletin Board
Last minute notices:
Greetings to each of you in Christ's name, wanted to appologize for an article in the last newsletter. (It was the Main Story) There was a word in there that I didn't apperciate, so I assume it was not apperciated by most of you. The Lord doesn't want us using inappropiate words. So again I appologize for it. I will be more careful in what I send out. In Christ, Deborah Keep Looking up!
Also, Cheri Cross is unable to keep up with the website so I'm looking for another volunteer. You would basically have to enter the back issues and do the designing that I can't figure out. If you are interested e-mail me your phone number and name and I'll call you with the password information and such.
God bless!