Thanksgiving thoughts.....

Since our last Thanksgiving, it's been a year of very high ups, and very low downs. But through it all, God's grace has been sufficient and our every need has been met. And we learned that we never walk alone!

I received some troubling news yesterday which I am not ready to share openly, but while pondering this latest challenge....I read this on a website found it to be exactly what I needed to remember. Perhaps if you are going through some troubling times also, this will be an encouragement to you.

A missionary by the name of Hubert Mitchell was on the island of Sumatra with just one family member. Far away from the rest of his family, he was also far away from family and loved ones, trying to reach this island for Jesus Christ. But he had seen no response. Finally, the one family member he had with him died. The Sumatrans looked at Hubert Mitchell and thought, "We'll just watch him and see how he deals with this horrible tragedy in his life." And as Hubert Mitchell stood at the grave and lowered his loved one into the ground, he sang these words:

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed e'er the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father's full giving has only begun.

His love has no limit, His faith has no measure,
His power has no boundaries known unto men,
For out of his infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

I pray that this story and song will be an encouragement to you today as it has been for me. And that even when we think we have reached the end, there is more grace, more love, more power available from God's storehouse.
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And lastly, my college friend Bob Jones sent this to me and I thought it was funny and worth passing onto you......so here's our Thanksgiving wish for you!

MAY YOUR STUFFING BE TASTY,
MAY YOUR TURKEY BE PLUMP!

MAY YOUR POTATOES 'N GRAVY HAVE NARY A LUMP.

MAY YOUR YAMS BE DELICIOUS,

MAY YOUR PIES TAKE THE PRIZE,

MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER STAY OFF OF YOUR THIGHS.

Happy Thanksgiving and we pray that God will meet your needs today!

Do you know about Angel Food?

Cliff and I have the privilege to participate today in our church's first Angel Food Ministry distribution. This ministry has really captured the Cliff's heart. His heart literally breaks when he hears of people going hungry!

For $25.00 a family of four can be fed for one week! And the AMOUNT of food you receive for the amount you pay is absolutely amazing!

Here's the link to the Angel Food website to check for a distribution center in your area:

http://www.angelfoodministries.com/hosts.asp

The website says that a half million people were fed today as a result of this ministry and to think that Cliff and I were two volunteers helping to make this a reality is very humbling. Personally we met 2 semi's this morning along with about 40 other people and we loaded up 1100+ units which were distributed by 11 AM this morning.

Many homes tonight are enjoying a good meal because of the efforts and vision of those involved.

Please check it out. Consider joining in - it only takes one Saturday a month. Perhaps your church would be interested in becoming a distribution site? Its very easy to become involved.

If you have any questions, please email me - Cliff has connected people via the internet to distribution sites all over the country.

The word of Jesus: 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25:40 (New International Version)

Great ideas!

I received this in an email - wouldn't the world be a better place if we all approached each other with these ideas in mind?

To have a friend, you must be a friend, starting with yourself.

The greatest hunger a person has is to be needed. Help create that feeling in others.

The greatest virtue is kindness. You can't love everyone, but you can be kind to everyone.

Don't try to impress others. Let them have the fun of impressing you.

Be enthusiastic. Nothing of consequence was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

Be positive. Positive people attract others, while negative people repel.

You have greater impact on others by the way you listen than by the way you talk.

Gossip cheapens the one who gossips more than the one gossiped about.

Call a person by his or her name and use it often in conversation.

Communicate cheerfulness. Differences are bound to occur and can be resolved if conflict is managed in a polite manner.

If you are given to making fun of someone, be sure it is of yourself.

Be genuinely interested in others. Get them to talk about themselves.

A smile doesn't cost anything and pays big dividends. It makes you and everyone else feel better.

Be the first to say: "Hello! Good to see you.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The golden rule is where it all begins and ends.

Our right, our responsibility

Today is Election Day. I stood in line for almost an hour to vote. Standing there with neighbors, and other residents of the Township....all patiently waiting in the dark and cold and drizzle to exercise our Constitutional right to have a voice in Government. I actually felt a sense of awe at the amount of people who showed up to vote. The line was still clear out the door into the parking lot when I left at 6:45 PM.

What an awesome privilege. My voice, my vote, my opinion mattered.

And so we shivered and waited and grew tired of standing. But it mattered.

I voted today.

TRUST

Trust.

Defined as....
Assured resting of the mind on the integrity, veracity, justice, friendship, or other sound principle, of another person; confidence; reliance; authenticity.

Something earned, not deserved. But when broken, it's often impossible to repair.

We question whether we trust our politicians, our doctors, our ministers, our co-workers and sometimes our spouses. In fact, can we truly trust anyone at all?

I found out tonight that a former co-worker that I thought I knew wasn't really at all who I thought they really were. Lying, under the table dealings, deceit, betrayal, infidelity..... I was left to wonder if I ever really knew that person at all?!

Then I remembered the words of my mother...."Be sure your sins will find you out." This person's misdeeds certainly have been the talk of the town!

Tomorrow we grapple with whom to vote for. In Ohio, we are still reeling from the recent Coingate scandals in our Republican led State Government. But can we really trust the Democrats?

Trust.

Jesus Christ the same.

Yesterday. Today. and Tomorrow.

The only place I can put my complete trust and never be let down.

Turn the other cheek

People have said to me in the past.....you're just way too nice. You're a better person than me. You didn't have to say that to [a person].

As a Christian, someone who professes belief in the teachings and life and ressurection of Jesus Christ the Lord, I am called to live what I say I believe.

We are taught from an early age to "turn the other cheek." That we are only responsible for our actions, and we don't have to answer for the actions of another person.

The words of Jesus.....
"But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,"

"Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." (Luke 6:28-31. King James Version)

This is the infamous Golden Rule that we were taught as children also! The idea of "doing unto others as you would have them do unto you."

So in being a person who is often seen as "too nice." I am imitating the pattern of the Servant of God that I say I follow. And in being a little different from the natural instincts we all possess, hopefully my example points to an alternate way of responding.

The College (now University) that I graduated from: Mount Vernon (Ohio) Nazarene University's motto is:

"To seek to learn, is to seek to serve."

Even though somedays it is harder than others to have a servant attitude, I give it my best shot. After all, I think it's important to live out the kind of life you claim you live and believe in.

ACTIONS really do SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS.

Attitude

I believe that life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it, and so it is with you... we are all in charge of our ATTITUDE.

A friend of mine, Bob in Las Vegas, usually has this phrase at the bottom of every email he sends out. And it adequately sums up what I've been dealing with the past two weeks at work. Not my attitude, but the person who is supposed to be training me.

Bottom Line. I have not received adequate training in the past 3 weeks. Yet, I've shown up for work, tried my best, gave it my all..............and yet, this very intelligent, gifted woman has decided that she no longer wants to cooperate.

Unfortunately it has become terribly unpleasant and my boss has been forced to give her an ultimatum - either train Shelley or............you're history. As you can imagine, despite this being a mid-size company, the entire workforce has been affected - and she left work today sobbing and crying.

Those who have worked with her for the past two years find her behaviour puzzling. And they have expressed that they are not certain as to why she is choosing this path.

Apparently, the new person (me) has upset her apple cart - and instead of assisting me in becoming part of the team, she has alienated herself from almost everyone in the company.

I have chosen to understand, yet stand my ground. I really believe that I am working for a good company - the support I have received is unbelievable - from the top down!

So as it turns out....we all have choices to make about how we respond to what is happening around us.

Perhaps Charles Swindoll said it best: "The remarkable thing we have is a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude."