My good friend Andie and her husband are in the process of adopting a little baby! She is selling her artwork to help fund the adoption... which will be around $15,000!
you can see and buy her artwork through this page she created:
and it reminded me of something i saw on the news a few weeks ago... some news channel was interviewing some celebrities and really high profile rich people from florida... who got seriously ripped off by this guy.
one of the women said...
"what this guy has done to us... is really almost worse than murder..."
that statement to me was such a clear picture to me of how much our country idolizes wealth.
not that it's not a huge, terrible thing that this man has done to many..
but really... comparing it to killing you??
even with all the money that these people have lost... (and for many it was their entire life savings)... what about the incredibly poor people all around the globe? financially... i would guess they are still better off..
(ps. i realize i am obsessed with using these... as my regular form of punctuation. )
I've developed an intermittent twitch in my right eye... i think it's from having dry eyes and forcefully blinking them so much. lasik anyone?
and 2 blog posts that i felt were encouraging and helpful and lifted my spirits this morning..
A staff member at Bethlehem asked Pastor John what one or two main things he wants to say to an engaged couple in premarital counseling. His answer is relevant for marriages new and old:
Be joyfully, brokenheartedly, shaped by the death of Christ for you.
Do you both feel the fearfulness of how the death of Christ witnesses to your unspeakable unworthiness to be loved—that it took this much suffering and indignity to the Son of God for you to be saved. And do you both feel the wonder of being forgiven owing to nothing in you?
If you do, it will profoundly shape your patience with each other’s shortcomings (which you will find to be more than you ever dreamed).
Get really clear the meaning of headship and submission.
Understand this and glory in the greatness of the calling to be married for the sake of showing the world the covenant faithfulness between Christ and his church.
As I sang "My Hope Is in the Lord" in my devotions, it became a sweet whispering of my faith in Jesus. The thought entered my mind: This would be a beautiful expression of faith for someone who wondered, How do I become a Christian?
So, for any of you who would like to be saved from your sin and be reconciled to God and have eternal life, I invite you to sing this song with me.
No, you don’t have to sing it. You can say it. Mainly, you need to mean it.
If you do, from your heart, God will confirm to you in the coming days that you are his because of your faith in Jesus. You will not be able to forsake him, because he will not forsake you.
Here’s the song with some Bible verses where you can read the biblical foundations for what you are singing (or saying).
My hope is in the Lord Who gave Himself for me, And paid the price of all my sin at Calvary.
1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."-- C.S. Lewis
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