HARMLESS THOUGHTS

He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. -- Job 36:16 There is not a command in the Bible that is not for our own good. How many people throughout time have accused God of trying to burden them down with difficult living, when in reality He is trying to free us to live an abundant life. You would think that our creator would simply lay it all out and if we make the wrong choice, and take the wrong path, that he would simply say, "oh well, I have plenty more where that one came from." But He doesn't do that. When we are in distress, even from our own wrong choices, our God attempts to pleasantly coerce us back. But don't mistake his kindness for something else. Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes, to those who say, "Let God hurry, let him hasten his work so we may see it. Let it approach, let the plan of the Ho...

As a school teacher, snow is a bitter-sweet experience. On the one hand, if it snows enough, there will be the potential snow-day, or at least the two-hour delay. But on the other hand, there is still the shoveling of the drive and the sidewalk and the shoveling at the school and the shoveling and the shoveling and the shoveling... If there is the two-hour delay, then I do have more time to shovel. School never goes as well when there is the two-hour delay. The kids are always restless, the classes are shortened, I am tired from shoveling, lesson plans need to be rewritten, etc. But I do have more time to work on the lesson plans with the two-hour delay... The snow also creates other problems that I hate. Like the snow being tracked into the vehicles, the snow being tracked into the house, the snow being tracked in because of shoveling, and so on... And there is also the dirty cars from all of the salt on the roads. I guess I will have more time to clean all of this mess with the t...

My heart returns to you, O Lord, When those fail who are around me. I learn that you were always there with a love that will astound me. When trials seem to flow my way, in waves that seem scattered, random. I always close my eyes and drown, and ignore your power in them. Sinking souls with eternal needs remain unfilled with mortal love. Instead of God, I seek for friends, while looking down and not above. A heart with clouds of circumstance, will never learn to be set free. In truth I cling to heavy weights, while my soul's washed out to sea. Then in the ocean, I forget, the earth, the sky, the warmth of land. And sinking down, currents embrace, passed down to weed's entangled hands. There I dwell, wanting death, loneliness, steals my breath. Perish there, sinful stench, snuffed right out, love's strong clench. Then all the things that seemed as pain are then revealed as chastening. I rush to sky, to sun, to air, lungs bursting, always hastening. Swirling up through the mu...

I am the proud owner of a hairless cat. My brother-in-law gave us this cat, with the understanding that we would pay him for it eventually. My wife wanted to name the cat, Willow . I wanted to name it Naked . My son, Samuel, named it Willow Naked Harmless . Many people think that they look ugly, but over time the cat has grown on me, and now I don't even think about it. And when I talk about cats with other people, Sam usually asks whether or not they have hair. To him it isn't unusual at all. These cats are officially called Sphynx Cats. They are a fairly rare breed. This means that they are worth some money. Which in turn means that we invited Houston over to visit with Willow. Now, we are the proud owners of one hairless mommy cat, and 5 hairless kittens. Willow has turned out to be a good mommy. She is really taking care of those kittens. The runt of the group is not doing well though. I don't think it is eating enough. And besides being soft toward a baby...

My heart returns to you, O Lord, when those fail who are around me. I learn that you were always there, with a love that will astound me. Just something that popped out of my head and fell onto my journal. I cleaned it up a little, and then decided to keep it. Now I am sharing it with you for no apparent reason. (Probably because I didn't have anything else to write about at the moment.)

Every once in a while there will be a song that you have listened to several times, and then one day it all becomes clear. It is almost like you are hearing it for the first time. The song has a new meaning for you. Usually it is because there is something that is going on in your life that causes you to connect with these words. And then there you are, driving in your car, finding yourself listening to the same song like 20 times in a row. Each time you listen it gets a little louder. That happened to me two days ago with this song by Rich Mullins and Steve Cudworth. There's more that rises in the morning Than the sun And more that shines in the night Than just the moon It's more than just this fire here That keeps me warm In a shelter that is larger Than this room And there's a loyalty that's deeper Than mere sentiments And a music higher than the songs That I can sing The stuff of Earth competes For the allegiance I owe only to the Giver Of all good things So ...

Here is a copy of an e-mail that I received from my mom. It was encouraging and profound, so I thought that I would share it with you: I hope you realize how important you are to God. Afterall, think about it, Jesus died for you and that in itself proves how important you are. We all need to hear that at least sometime in our life. I have been reading in the OT and I am right now in I Samuel. David lived through many trials, but you know they didn't seem like our type of trials at all. I mean he had King Saul trying to kill him and he was surrounded by rough and tough men who were used to killing people. Think about it, doesn't our life seem simple? And yet, I think our life is even more complex because the "enemies" that surround us are not just people.....they are things, or events, or circumstances, and sometimes people. So does that make it harder for us to trust God? Of course not....God is still God no matter what happens in our life, or no matter what ...

(CBS) "Coffee has a complicated reputation, reports CBS News Correspondent Elizabeth Kaledin. It's popular worldwide, but over the years, caffeine -- its main ingredient -- has been linked to some cancers, jitteriness, insomnia and -- since many of us can't live without it -- addiction. But there's new research about our favorite pick-me-up that may "perk" up its image: a study that finds drinking coffee cuts the risk of a disease now plaguing adult Americans: Type 2 diabetes. "We found that heavy coffee consumption substantially reduced the risk of Type 2 diabetes in both men and women," said Dr. Frank Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health. By "heavy" coffee consumption -- researchers mean 6 or more cups a day -- but what they found was startling. Among the thousands of men and women followed for the study, male coffee drinkers had a 50 percent reduction in diabetes risk. The risk for women was reduced by 30 percent. Even those who dr...

He took his heart out, his soul. He looked at it, examined it, it wasn't much to look at. And there wasn't much there; just a little bit, barely enough. But he thought in his mind, "It will do. "It is bendable and moldable ready to conform." So he gave it to her. --- In her hands it took another form, adjusted to fit her shape, her syle. It fluidly flowed and morphed; like a dance... never stopping. --- It's absence left a void meant to be filled. The hole ached and yearned; wanting something of her. --- She loved her gift. Like a child with a new toy, a treasure. The heart-dance went on, but was different now. It was more solid, more firm; and even growing some, to meet the needs. --- Some slipped through her fingers. Did she see it? She's stretching it now. Is it too thin? Will it break? Will it snap? She's only holding on with one hand. What else is she holding on to? --- It is on the floor. Shattered Broken --- It wasn't much anyway; just a li...

In case you had forgotten... God is still good. It is easy to lose sight of that. I know that I do, more than I would care to publicly admit. But even when you don't want to believe it, God is still good.