“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland”  (Isaiah 43:19)

Everyone loves something new.  When you buy a new toy for a child, it does not matter if that toy is less expensive or smaller than the old one he had, you can see the excitement and the joy in his face as he gladly accepts the gift and rushes to have a go at it.

When a man buys a new car, you can see a childlike expression on his face as he talks about the features of the car and what makes it fantastic.  When a woman does a new hair or buys a new dress, she can’t wait to go out and hear compliments from people about the dress or how nice her hair is.

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In our present age, it is so easy to become depressed and overwhelmed. There are many issues within and without that continually threaten our peace of mind. Some of these pressures could be internal, like for instance when we feel a sense of sinfulness which often leads to guilt and a sense of inadequacy.

Other things which could threaten our peace of mind is fear and worry. We worry about our past actions and what effect it may have on our future, we worry about whether our investment today will yield anything worthwhile in the future to justify the investment, we worry about the children and the pressures they might be facing from their peers or which they might be exposed to in the future. It goes on and on and one would be so amazed about what other people worry about and fear.

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For a young child during the immediate years after World War II, the treats and gifts were infrequent and few.  For this reason, I really valued the few I received.  One of my infrequent treats came from the center of our local town–a soft-serve malted milk flavor ice cream cone.

I will never forget the afternoon when Mom gave me the coins for a cone, and I went to the ice cream stand only to find that a new franchise had taken over the business.  Their product was an inferior vanilla soft serve.  I was displeased and far from polite.  I practically told them to get out of business and was further shocked when a month or so later, they did.  My thoughtless rudeness resulted in a strong guilt and regret.

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Life, goes the popular saying, is not a bed of roses. Many times I have been asked the question, ‘why do believers go through pain and difficulties?’ Time   and time again, I respond, ‘God did not call us into a problem-free life; He called us out of darkness into light, from sin into righteousness and from death to life.”

However, we still live in a dark world, so understandably, we are subjected to trials, temptations and tribulations. In all this however, we are promised victory in Christ Jesus. We are not victims, rather, we are victors because within us is a life that cannot be defeated.

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Sometimes we just need a rest from work. We also need a break from play. But there is no resting from life!

Someone once said, “You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” Even when you are tired, sick, broke or fed-up you have to keep on keeping on; you have to be determined to put one foot in front of the other and make that day what it may not seem to be.

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How we perceive God and how we relate with Him is largely dependent on whether we focus on His acts – the things He does, or His ways – His word, instructions and commands.

In a city called Cana in Galilee, which was about four and a half miles northwest of Nazareth, a wedding took place. At that wedding, was Mary the mother of Jesus. Also present at the wedding on invitation was Jesus and His disciples (John 2:1 – 2)

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What a friend we have in Jesus

All our sins and griefs to bear;
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer.

Oh what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry,
Everything to God in prayer

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 A friend at work brought Tim to see me and introduced us. I looked up at the tall, handsome man standing before me.

“I remember you,” he said, reaching down to give me a hug. I was mystified.

As we talked, I found that I had known his parents while my husband and I were stationed on a missionary center overseas in the late 1970s. Tim, now 41, was in his teens at the time, and since my husband and I were newlyweds in our early thirties, we didn’t really have any contact with the high school crowd.  But for some reason, Tim still remembered us.
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“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding:
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3: 5-6 (NIV)

In many forms of study, the teachers will challenge and motivate their students to their greatest levels of understanding and achievement.  Part of the process usually includes methods that make the student aware of his own limits and weaknesses.  When the learner has done all he can do with his own abilities and understanding, he usually comes to the awareness that reason, effort, learning and human ability will only take him so far.

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I recently got some pictures of my Aunt’s 86th birthday party. Although I haven’t been able to visit her in many years she looked as happy and beautiful as ever. Her eyes sparkled with the same youth and vitality that I remembered from our Summer visits to her home some 35 years ago.

Gazing at her picture took me back in an instant to those wonderful times once again.  Her home was an eight hour drive from ours over mountainous roads so we could only visit during the Summer. When we arrived, though, we were always greeted with hugs, tears, laughter and love. The highlight of our visits was always the early Thanksgiving dinner that we shared.

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