Good Morning, Dear Friends and Prayer Partners! This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it! It's another chilly day, even colder than yesterday, but I turned on the heat before I retired last night and so the house was nice and comfy when I got up. I will be happy when we get back to warmer temps! But I must say, the skies have really been beautiful the past couple days...just some high, small clouds and the contrails have been outstanding, so it must be really cold up in the atmosphere.
My cleaning ladies came yesterday and caught me up on all the neighborhood news, while I caught them up on the neighbor's news. My friend and neighbor to the south, is a young, single guy, who has been there since he was born. His parents built a new house and moved, but he did not want to go with them, so he lives in a house that is much too big for him, and is now going to school part time and working. He graduated several years ago, but is now studying mechanics and hoping to get with a dealership when he completes his course. There have been some incidents at his house while he was gone, so I talked to him about them and he will make sure to lock his doors from now on. It pays to be vigilant.
I drove to the park, while on my way back from Chick-fil-a and saw the large gator sprawled on the bank of the canal, enjoying the sun. There were few people at that time of late afternoon, so no road blocks this time. Further on, people were enjoying their picnics and walking , because it had warmed up in the afternoon and was quite pleasant. God is good!
From the Promise Bible NLT:
What do we learn from stress?
2 Corinthians 1:8-9 I think you ought to know,
dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went
through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and
completely overwhelmed, and we thought we would
never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as
a result, we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God
who can raise the dead.
Stress exposes our human limitations so that we can better realize
God's limitless power and love.
Galatians6:9 Don't get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged
and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate
time.
We keep going because God has promised a rich harvest in his perfect time.
Romans 5:3,4 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials,
for we know that they are good for us--they help us learn to endure. And
endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens
our confident expectation of salvation.
James 1:2,4 Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let
it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance
has a chance to grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will
be strong in character and ready for anything.
While stress exposes our true character, it also helps develop our true
character. Even when we fall short of the mark, God has promised to
work within us, shaping us into the image of Christ.
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
