Gainfully Employed

David started his first part-time job today. When he found out that his friend, Tommy, would be resigning from his job at our church he talked to several of our Deacons about applying for the job. Tommy is our custodian and is moving to West Palm Beach in the fall to attend Palm Beach Atlantic University. After much discussion among our deacons they decided that this job is better suited for an older individual, howver they offered David part-time employment for the summer doing odd jobs around the church that have needed to be done. David accepted the position with excitement. He will be working 32 hours a week doing things like pressure washing, painting, etc. David loves being at the church and it's a bonus as it helps out with transportation getting him to a job (since we will both be going to the same place). Not to mention he's working where he enjoys being the most!

Series Tied 1-1

Today was our 2nd annual Parent/Youth Softball game at Sugarland Park Complex. The youth tied the series 1-1 with a win against the adults (13-12). I'm still trying to find the rule in slow pitch softball that says you can't steal bases. I tried stealing from 1st to second but was told that it was illegal. Oh well, it is a commandment after all so I'll let it go. At least I knew where 2nd base was (only kidding Lori, you played a great game). I'm amazed at the talent of the adults and so was David. He told his team mates in the dugout (while we were winning the game) that he couldn't believe they were letting a group of adults (most of them over 40 years old) beat them. The adults brought their own cheerleaders this year. Delaney and Hannah were in our dugout cheering for their mommies! It was great afternoon playing against these youth and worth every ache we are sure to have come tomorrow morning. After the game we enjoyed hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, and dessert.




Delaney explains the rules to Mr. Thall

Pastor Tim ready to make a "Grand Slam"

Farewell

Glen and Mary Pridgen graciously opened their home to the Deacons and their wives along with the staff of our church tonight to say farewell to Pastor Tim, Krisy and Delaney Bridges. Glen prepared a "country boil" that consisted of shrimp, sausage, potatoes, onions and corn on the cob. As with any Baptist gathering the food was outstanding and the fellowship was sweet. Pastor Tim and his family are moving to Edinburgh, Scotland where Tim will puruse his PhD. It is with mixed emotions that we say farewell to them next Sunday for the last time. It's exciting to see them follow the Lord's leadership in their lives yet at the same time we will miss their ministry and friendship. This past Sunday night the church held a Dinner on the Grounds in their honor. Several of our deacons and our youth pastor shared how they have touched the lives of our church. Bob Buker said it best when he said "I'm not going to talk about you (referring to Tim) because that is not what you would want, because it's evident in your lives that it's not about you it's about the Lord." We are forever thankful that the Lord brought them to First Baptist Church and placed them in our lives.

Angela's New Fashion Accessory

Angela has a new fashion accessory, however it is not the rave. We picked up her knee brace this morning before she went to her first physical therapy appointment. She says it is uncomfortable but stablizes her knee. Her first session of physical therapy went well and only took an hour. Del, her therapist, said he would start her out coming twice a week and then increase it to three times a week. He explained to us that she would be sore after the therapy but this would increase her other muscles and lessen the likelihood of her damaging anything else. He is also going to prescribe her some exercises to do here at the house.

Youth Cake Auction

Last night the First United Methodist Church of Clewiston held a Youth Cake Auction. The proceeds from this auction will go to finance the youth mission trip to Tennessee in July. Angela has been an active part of this youth group since Hurricane Wilma hit our community last year. Each youth was required to bake a cake or dessert to auction off. Angela choose to bake a Chocolate Chip Cake (recipe compliments of Lori Brooks). This was her first time baking a cake all by herself. Although we did not taste it, it looked yummy!

Prior to the auction, the youth group helped prepared dinner and set tables for Wednesday Night Dinner. This allowed them to get some community hours (they need a total of 40) needed to go on the mission trip. Following the dinner the auction was held. Angela's cake was auctioned off for $25.01. She said there was a chocolate cake that went for $130.

I didn't get any pictures of her cake before taking it be auctioned off, but David happened to take one of her mixing it up!

Being an Encourager

Webster defines "encouragement" as: to give courage or confidence to, to raise the hopes of, to help one by sympathetic advice and interest, to promote or stimulate. The primary way we encourage others is by the words we speak. Too often we aren't using our lips to encourage our children but instead we are tearing them down. It's not always what you say but what tone we use when we speak.

William Barclay once said, "One of the highest of human duties is the duty of encouragement. It is easy to laugh at men's ideas; it is easy to pour cold water on their enthusiasm; it is easy to discourage others. The world is full of discouragers. We have a Christian duty to encourage one another. Many a time a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet. Blessed is the man who speaks such a word."

Blessed is the mother who can offer a word of praise, thanks, appreciation, or cheer to her children. The Bible has much to say about the power of our words. James 3 compares the tongue to three relatively small entities that control something comparatively larger. First he compares the tongue to a bit in a horse's mouth - a very small piece of metal that steers a large animal to the left or the right, or brings him to a halt. Second he compares the tongue to a ship's rudder. And finally, James compares the tongue to a tiny spark that can start a forest fire.
While James warns that our words can cause great destruction, they can also spark growth and motivation. James 1:6 states, "the tongue [the words we speak] sets on fire the course of our lives." As mothers, our words have the power to change the entire direction of a child's life! What an awesome gift we can give.

Diagnosis

We got the final diagnosis on Angela's knee today. Dr. Churchill said the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is torn . There is bone bruising and fluid just as the MRI showed but the ACL is torn. Because her body is not finished growing he does not want to do surgery now, however he prescribed physical therapy for 1 month (2 - 3 times a week) along with a knee brace. We will see him again in a month to see how the therapy has helped. Whena sked how this would affect her activities in sports he said provided the therapy and the brace work she could participate in sports. Angela has decided on her own that she will take the season off from soccer this year and give her body the opportunity to heal.

Grasping Pride

I have currently started reading Humility: True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney. I have wanted to read this book since a friend of mine read it a couple of months ago. Although I am just beginning the book I have already come to realize that in order to be humble I must first grasp what it means to be proud. If you are like me, you will not readily admit to being proud or prideful. As Mahaney points out "none of us are immune to the logic-defying, blinding effects of pride. Though it shows up in different forms and to differing degrees, it infects us all. It's not if pride exists in my heart; it's where pride exists and how pride is being expressed in my life. But what exactly is pride. Mahaney explains it like this,"Pride is when sinful human beings aspire to the status and position of God and refuse to acknowledge their dependence upon Him." Talk about stepping on toes, more like stomped on them and twisted on top of them . Ouch! . "Pride", John Stott writes, "is more than the first of the seven deadly sins; it is itself the essence of all sin." Jonathan Edwards called pride "the worst viper that is in the heart" and "the greatest disturber of the soul's peace and sweet communion with Christ." Edwards also ranked pride as the most difficult sin to overcome and "the most hidden, secret and deceitful of all lusts."

Proverbs 8:13 says: "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate." Why does God hate pride? Mahaney explains it like this,"Pride is when sinful human beings aspire to the status and position of God and refuse to acknowledge their dependence upon Him." John Calvin wrote, "God cannot bear with seeing his glory appropriated by the creature in even the smallest degree, so intolerable to him is the sacrilegious arrogance of those who, by praising themselves, obscure his glory as far as they can." There are numerous warnings from Scripture about pride and through these scriptures we can find an expression of God's mercy that is intended to lead us to the path of humility. Mahaney points out that true greatness as biblically defined is serving others for the glory of God.

As I've read the first 59 pages of this book I have reason to be discouraged and to stop reading, but even more I have reason to be encouraged to finish reading this book because I know and believe "the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." For there is motivation and purpose to be found in humility. We only have to read Isaiah 66:1-2; Thus says the LORD:" Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist," Says the LORD. " But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.

MRI Results

Angela's MRI results were faxed to me this morning. That doesn't mean I understand it by any means of the imagination. I'll still have to wait until we see the orthopedist on Friday, May 19 before I understand the results totally. Which I did make a phone call to a friend that is in the medical field and he says it's only a bad bruise and that the small joint effusion means there is fluid on her knee. He said if there is the orthopedist might drain the fluid off the knee (I see me leaving the building if they do). However for those interested this is the results:

Findings: The cruciate liagaments are intact. The is no focal meniscal signal abnormality seen. The medial and lateral collateral ligaments and quadriceps and patellar tendons appear normal. There is abnormal signal in the lateral femoral condyle and lateral tibial plateau compatible with bone bruise. There is a joint effusion present.

Impression: Bone bruise, lateral femoral condyle and lateral tibial plateau. Small joint effusion.

lateral femoral condyle

Tibial Plateau

Book Review: Becoming a Titus 2 Woman

Peace does an excellent job of showing women our responsibility that is in found in Gods word. It is refreshing to find a book that deals with the often neglected mandate of the older women teaching the younger women on matters of God, husband, and children. She not only shows us clearly our responsibilities, but shows us how to biblically approach and love the younger women. We have watered down God's standard for women and even discounted the things He established because it doesn't fit the norm of society or what society tells us. It's my prayer that as Christian women we would mentor the young girls that we are in contact with daily.

"Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God." Titus 2:3-5

While Search Desiring God

I loved this article on Desiring God's website. I love this part in particular. . . we must understand how our sinful human hearts and minds work. One profound Biblical insight we need to know is that our heart exploits our mind to justify what the heart wants. That is, our deepest desires precede the rational functioning of our minds and incline the mind to perceive and think in a way that will make the desires look right. It is an illusion to think that our hearts are neutral and incline in accordance with cool rational observation of truth. On the contrary, we feel powerful desires or fears in our heart, and THEN our mind bends reality to justify the desires and fears.

How often do we try to justify our actions?

Softly and Tenderly

Isaiah 55:8 reads “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. And Psalms 30:5 says, "For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning."

These scriptures, along with others, came to mind last night as I learned of the tradegy that took place in my sister-in-law's family. Though I nor that family can comprehend why something like this happened I rest in the knowledge that My Savior, the one that creates life and holds it in His hand, knows why and has a purpose for each event that takes place in our lives. That same God is the God that can turn our weeping into joy. I pray that this family will find comfort in the days to come and for the family members that do not know Christ, I pray that they would call out to Him now. For there is nothing too small or horrible that you can't bring to Jesus. He desires to have a relationship with you.

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals He's waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.

Come home, come home,
Ye who are weary come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home!

Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,
Pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not His mercies,
Mercies for you and for me?

Time is now fleeting the moments are passing,
Passing from you and from me;
Shadows are gathering, death-beds are coming,
Coming for you and for me.

Oh! for the wonderful love He has promised,
Promised for you and for me;
Tho' we have sinned He has mercy and pardon,
Pardon for you and for me.