People Will Let You Down

This is so strange. My last post was about a blessing. This post is about a discouragement.

That's how life is, isn't it? Peaks and valleys, ups and downs, laughter and tears, Light and Darkness.

Everyone is human; everyone has faults. No matter how wonderful, spiritual, consecrated, or wise they are, they are still flawed in some area. I have always known that people will let you down (God won't). Sometimes it seems like I don't know it though.

Saturday I got a good hard shock that thoroughly proved the accuracy of this post's title. At an event that day (for time's sake, and to avoid finger-pointing, I won't name names or go into all the details), a group of people who I have respected, trusted, and looked up to, behaved in a manner completely foreign to the people I thought they were. I respected, trusted, and looked up to them, because of their character, integrity, spiritual-mindedness, purity, and set-apartness (I don't know if that's even a word, but it serves my purpose). Witnessing their behavior, I was completely dumb-founded. Disgusted. Embarassed. And heart-broken. I turned to Mom and told her, "These aren't the [people] I know!" This was so unlike them! It was like living a nightmare, where strange and shady-minded characters take the bodies and voices of people you love, then behave like the fiends they are.

Oh how I have prayed that the Lord would pierce their consciences! Shame them to their core; wake them up, startled, to the realization of the message they were sending.

I also have the impression that I should try to speak to them. They knew I was there; they know I saw. I cannot conscientiously stand by, silent, and act like everything is OK. It's NOT okay! I must, as a loving friend, approach them and give an account of what their actions spoke to an outsider. But I am so afraid. Afraid I will not have the right words. That I will not time it right. Afraid for their testimonies. Afraid to lose them as friends.

The sovereignty of God is a great comfort!

Encouragement

This past Sunday, I recieved a sweet blessing that I thought I might like to remember.
I have always desired to be a good example, and an encouragement. Early Sunday, I had prayed specifically that I would be used to encourage other believers - especially people at church, who had been such a blessing in my life.
Before the day was over, Bro. Earl, Bro. Mike, and two others had all expressed to me that the Lord had used me to be a blessing to them. Talk about an immediate answer!

Heb 10:24 says,

"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:"

How many times we struggle along, feeling sorry for ourselves and our 'problems', when we could be being used to lift the burdens of someone else! And how many times therefore, we miss the opportunity to have our own lifted.

Disney's Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader

Well, for any of you who are Narnia people and haven't heard yet, the "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" trailer has been released. I am hoping that the makers learned their lesson with the major fan dissapointment of "Prince Caspian", and decided to stick to the book for their inspiration for "Dawn Treader", instead of their own immaginations. The first one they made, "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe", wasn't exactly like the book, but any alterations that were made only honored and enhanced the original C. S. Lewis ideas. Their version of "Prince Caspian" however, was such a major dissapointment in so many areas! It's only redeeming quality, I felt, was how they handled the character of Edmund. I thought they 'did' him excellently.

Now it's time for "Dawn Treader". Set to release this December, and so far, the trailer looks very familiar to anyone who has read the book. I detected only a couple of things I didn't recognize, and I'm hoping that means "Dawn Treader" will be patterned more after the quality of "Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe".

I thought I'd post the trailer here for anyone who's interested.



Once again, I would like to note that I have not viewed any of the 'related' videos whose links may be displayed with this one. Please use caution if you choose to view any of them - sometimes not-so-nice (and totally unrelated) material is snuck in to this list.

A Father's Legacy

"Skipping Stones"
{Image property of Livvy Taylor Photography. Used with permission.}

~

Once Sunday morning, a man sat in his recliner reading the Sunday paper. Glancing at the clock, he spoke to his son, "Better be getting ready for Sunday School."
The young boy asked, "Are you going?"
"No," his father replied. "Not today."
"Dad, when you were a boy, did you go to Sunday School"
"Why, of course I did!" the man answered.
As the boy got up and left the room, he murmmured to himself, "Probably won't do me any good either."

~

The day before, in another part of the country, a poor hard-working family sat around the dinner table. They discussed with excitment Monday's harvest, and the resulting payment of an old and heavy debt.
That night a horrible hailstorm swept through the area, distroying their prize crop.
Sunday morning came, and the son stood with his father in the field that had held all their hopes. The son waited for his heart-broken father's reaction to the disaster. The man stooped and took up a handful of earth and studied it in his hand. Suddenly he began to sing softly:

"Rock of Ages,
cleft for me,
let me hide myself
in Thee."

Years later, after the boy was grown and serving the Lord with a family of his own, he would often say that was the best sermon he had ever heard.

~

What a difference a Godly father can make in the lives of his children.

Happy Father's Day, and may the Lord bless all those who seek to live for Him.

EchoLOUD

echo: "a repetition or imitation of another"

loud: "marked by intensity of volume..."


A few years ago during the young people's class at a church my family was visiting, I was given a wristband. You know what I'm talking about, those plastic-y rubbery ones that were so popular a couple of years ago. Well, they were popular here, I don't know about where you are... Anyway, this one was orange, and the letters ECHOLOUD were stamped on it.

I got the wristband because I knew the memory verse; but I wondered - what's the significance of this? Does it mean anything, or is it just a prize for knowing the verse? If the latter was the case, it seemed pretty shallow. But the teacher went on to explain.

In the last few weeks, I've thought quite a bit about the meaning of this little bracelet. Do I live by what it stands for? Do I take it for granted, or do I take it for the serious, solumn command and challenge that it is? How can I improve? What else can I do?

The orange is for the color of a life vest. When someone is drowning in a spaceless, helpless sea, what do they want most in the world? Well, most likely a boat and people who will throw them a life vest. Rescue.
We should be the rescuers - throwing spiritual life vests to people who are hopelessly drowning in a sea of sin. We should be that bright orange beacon of hope.
The ECHOLOUD means just what you might guess. An echo is a repetition of something. What higher goal is there in the life of a saved (rescued) born-again believer than to be an echo of Christ? To repeat His teachings, reflect His life, and demonstrate His love to a drowning populace - that is life! And our echo? Echo LOUD!

Chick Stuff - Advice Anyone?

My little bird seems to be over the ant bites - by Sunday afternoon he was much perkier, and now seems like his old self. I am thankful the Lord sees fit to even care about the 'insignificant' things like hurt little animals. Or maybe it's that He cares about us, and our attachment to them :). At any rate, I'm glad He saw fit to right my mistake (leaving the chick in the yard in the first place). The only problem is, I am now going to have to re-think my 'solution' for the chick's independence. Because of the ants, the cage I was going to use will not work - the ants could crawl right up and over the lower boards. I thought of sprinkling poison around the cage to prevent that, but then the other chickens might get in it (especially the four young ones - they are still pretty dumb Lol). Then I thought, "What about a 'moat'?" you know, like they had around castles in the old days. The ants couldn't get through water. Now, that's all well and good, but where am I going to find a portable moat?! I can't build it - water would seep through wood, plastic would have to be cut, molded, and caulked together (which I wouldn't know how to do) and metal would be the same problem, except that would be even trickier, 'cause it would envolve sautering (spelling-?). Besides, I haven't got alot of money to spend on this whole little situation here. Here is a drawing I did of the idea:



The cage would sit in the hollow space inside.

Does anyone have any advice on how I could build or find something like this? I would really appreciate any tips!

Austin's Back!

{Photo property of Marilla Heights Photography}

Well, 'our boy' is back in the States, safe and sound, mission complete. He was supposed to arrive next Saturday, but he e-mailed Trissy and me (who he calls "The sisters [he] never had.") and told us he would be home by today, but not to tell anyone, 'cause Bro. Earl and Mrs. Shannen didn't even know! It was going to be a surprise... Ha! well, it was a surprise alright! He came home last Saturday, instead of yesturday, and about shocked the living daylights out of us too! Well, he's his father's son, and his older brother's younger brother, so why should we have been surprised that he would trick us too?! :) But we are so glad to have him back. We still haven't gotten a chance to talk talk with him, and find out exactly how things turned out (he'd been having us pray for some specific people over there that he was hoping would be saved before he had to leave and come back), and hear all his stories. He says he's got alot of them; I imagine so, after spending almost a year as an under-cover missionary, so to speak, in a dangerous country having never been away from home in his life! He's thinner than when he left, but other than that, and getting used to hearing people regularly speak in English, he seems like the same old Austin!
As you may know, I have no blood-kin brothers, though I have always dearly longed for them - especially older ones. The Lord did not see fit to grant my wish in that way, but He has given me some very special 'adopted', spiritual brothers, who have been perhaps even more of a blessing than blood kin. Austin is one of these.
The Lord truly is good to us!