To Crawl or Cry - Gary Williams (Missionary in Italy)

“The trouble with life,” someone said, “is that it is so daily!” No sooner do we survive one day then another one is upon us.

The little people in our lives have something to teach us about that. They know about struggle.

Some of life’s greatest lessons come from those beneath our normal line of vision. We need to look down, watch them and learn how to grow up. If you don’t have a small child of your own, go borrow one.

Watch the baby on the floor, for example. See how it focuses all of its energy in crawling. But then it stops, looks bewildered and overwhelmed with the distance it must travel to get back to familiar arms, and decides simply to cry for help. Why struggle if you can cry?

If you pick it up quickly, the baby’s plan worked. But if you let it sit long enough to realize that no one is coming, the baby often stops crying and begins crawling again.

Notice how the baby has energy to cry or to crawl, but it seldom both at the same time. It must choose between one and the other.

We are all children of the Father, sitting in the middle of his big world’s carpet. He watches us with unfathomable love. He sees us fall and cry out for deliverance. And he knows that the world is saying to us, "Give up." But he whispers, "Try again."

He does not always rush to pick us up. He likes to see us sit up, look ahead, and crawl forward once more. And as we crawl more, we cry less.

“The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places,” someone said. God’s love calls us to go and grow, forward and upward.

No matter how often we fall, we do not fail as long as we get up again keep crawling.

Don’t give up.

Gary Williams - an IronMan
Scuola Biblica di FirenzeVia armando Spadini, 24Scandicci, IL Italy

1 Peter 2:12

Wow, what an amazing verse. This week at church we studied the part of the sermon on the mount about turning the other cheek (eye for an eye). This was a great study for me and one that I had no idea would turn out the way it did. I teach often on Sunday mornings and this week as I prepared I was shown some things that I did not expect. It is so amazing the way God works and directs! I was really struggling with my thoughts early on and then God started directing me. I came accross this verse in 1 Peter and I just love it. I had not remembered it before, but it made such great sense to me and challenged me so.

(NIV) "Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God and the day he visits us."
(Message) "Live an exempalary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they'll be won over to God's side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives."

Wow, what a lifestyle. What a goal! I only wish that my life lived up to this!

Some things that I think are amazing about this verse:
1. Notice it does not say, live such good lives that they may think how great you are. We want our lives to reflect God. Who do we answer to? God or ourselves? If we do good so that others might notice how good we are, then we are living for ourselves. I only hope that my motives are pure and that I reflect the goodness of my Maker!
2. Notice that it talks about our actions, not our words. It is so true that actions speak louder than words and in situations where we are dealing with others, our actions should tell the story. I do think there are times when we must use words. Hopefully, our actions tell the same story as our words, only louder.
3. To do what this verse says, we must be commited to Chrsit and consistent in all we do. We must act the same when times are good or bad. We must act the same to beleivers as we do to non-believers. It seems to me that a good deal of the Sermon on the Mount goes back to Commitment and Consistency. These two things are a real stuggle in the daily life I lead.

When you get some time, read this verse and spend some time meditating on it. I was blown away! Let me know your thoughts by leaving me a comment!

Stay stong, PLD!

STP

Some Verses for this morning

Here are some verse for you guys from Psalms:

33:18-20 (Message) Watch this: God's eye is on those who respect him, the one who are looking for his love.
He's ready to come to their rescue in bad times; in lean times he keeps body and soul together.
We're depending on God; he's everything we need.

33:22 (Message) Love us, God, with all you've got-that's what we're depending on.

34:8-10 (NIV) Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.
The lions may grow weak and hundry, but those who see the Lord lack no good thing.

34:17 (Message) Is anyone crying for help? God is lisening, ready to rescue you.

34:19 (NIV) A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.

34:22 (NIV) The Lord redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.

Just a few verses to dwell on this morning. By the way, did you guys see the sunrise this morning. It was one of the most amazing i have ever seen! Praise God that he loves us so much!

Stay strong! PLD

STP

Let's Pray - Jeremy Paul

My wife (Denise) and I have a 2 ½ years old son (Hunter), and just had our second child (Tanner) on August 24, 2006. They are a great blessing. They learn and grow so fast. It is hard to believe that Hunter is 2 ½ years old. Denise and I had opted for the third time not to find out if baby was a boy or a girl until the baby was born. Every night before bedtime we sit down on the steps and pray. This is a wonderful time for us as a family to share with each other and our Heavenly Father. I wanted this to be a wonderful family tradition for us, to tell each other we love each other and to talk to GOD as a family.

It actually starts with snack time. Hunter has a snack, then he has a shower or a bath. Next, Hunter rocks and sings with Denise. They always sing the same song “Jesus Loves Me”, but Hunter does not always sit or rock with Denise. Hunter loves to sing. Some nights he sings very softly and other nights I am surprised our neighbors have not come over to find out what is going on. Then I wait for Denise and Hunter to join me at the stairs. Hunter runs up to me and gives me a great big hug, most of the time now it is a “Tackle Hug.” We sit down on the stairs to pray. I start by saying “Dad loves Mom”, “Dad loves Hunter”, “Dad loves Baby” (“Tanner” since we now know have him), and “We all love each other.” In early August I was to this point where I say “Let’s pray” and Hunter chimes in “No, No, No, Hunter prays.” Hunter tells me to move and sit next to Denise. Then Hunter starts “Hunter loves Mom”, “Hunter loves Dad”, “Hunter loves the Baby”, and “We all love each other.” “Thank you God for Mommy, Thank you for Daddy, Thank you for Baby, Thank you for MamMa (Grandma), Thank you for Jesus, Please bring rain, Amen.”

Hunter prays every night, sometimes it is a very quick pray “Thank you for Jesus. Amen.” other times he will pray for everyone he can think of at the time. Many nights Hunter will remind me to pray for certain people. Still other times he will repeat what we have prayed. It brings great joy to me to hear Hunter repeat something good that I say. There have been other times Hunter has repeated something he has heard someone say. This reminds me that someone is watching and listening all the time. Yes, GOD is watching and listening to us, but we also have children, family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers watching and listening to us. I am glad to hear and know that Hunter wanted to tell us he loved us and he loves GOD.

I Timothy 4:16
“Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

JP - an IronMan

John 13:12

IronMen, read this verse. Jesus asks the disciples, "Do you know what i have done for you?" Ask yourself this question that Jesus asks his disciples. Let me know your thoughts on this and what your answer would be. Let me know ASAP by commenting on this topic. Click "comments" below and then you can put your comment on the blog.

STP

One Day at a Time

How do you do this? Isn't this so difficult? When I was coaching baseball, we would always tell our players to treat each day independent of each other. Treat one mistake as independent of another. Don't let one mistake turn into 3 or 4 mistakes. I believe this same thing works in our spiritual lives, but it is so difficult. We never know how much time God is going to give us to live on this earth to live, therefore we have to cherish each day we have. We must be careful not to get to high on the highs or to low on the lows. That is a recipe for disaster. We must give God the glory when things are good just as we call on Him for rescue when things are bad. Consistency! It's the key!

My brother Gregg was a great example of this. Two things he taught me that I remember so clearly today:
1. In baseball and in life, act the same if you strike a guy out or if you give up a home run.
2. Treat everyone the same, no matter who they are.

One of the best compliments I have ever heard was said by one of our customers about Gregg, he said, "Gregg always did what he said he was going to do!"

I wish that I could be this consistent and live one day at a time!

STP