++++ people do more than only pray!
++++ roses to Mom's yesterday!
++++++++++++ free grab and go breakfast at Y!
++++ GOOD NEWS::: The YMCA
++++ is head starting in Paulding.
Hold On Dan. Your heavenly father is faithful. (an email from Tim to Dan) @ beautyforashes.htm
Phil 4:4-8
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
So much good stuff packed into these 4 verses.
There is nothing in my life in this world that would cause me to rejoice always. Life has too many ups and downs, too much bad alongside the good. But with Christ, there is a shift in focus. Now I have the hope of eternal life. Now I see my circumstances, even if created by my own failures, as being used by God to help me improve in character and heart. When I look back at Purdue, I see a young me that was in waaaay over his head. My study skills were poor. My mind, too undisciplined and wandering (instead of focusing on homework. The number of times I had to re-read a paragraph out of our boring engineering text books lol). I failed classes. I barely passed classes. I felt as if I had failed in life. Purdue was tough. It should be. It was/is a top 10 EE school in the nation. I could have gone somewhere in Oklahoma (I was going to go to OU), and maybe I would have done a bit better in grades as the competition wouldn't have been so tough. But God put me there at Purdue. And, in a worldly means of measurement of success, I pretty much did fail. My grades were bad and I never did get an engineering job. I was broken.
I remember my EE466 class, Digital Logic Design (I think). I loved digital and hated analog circuits. With digital circuits, I thought I had finally found what I liked and was good at. This class was what I was going to use to catapult me to a great career. I failed it Dan. Flagged it. My programming project was a 1000 lines of code that core dumped. Do not pass GO, Do not collect a job lol. I was broken. During this time of brokenness, God showed me that as a "earthen vessel" that I was full of holes. That vessel wasn't very useful for carrying water. God broke it, smashing it to pieces. But that wasn't the end of my story. God then took the pieces, melted them down, and starting forming a vessel that was whole. Where the "hole" of pride was, He infused humility. Where the "hole" of disdain, He infused self worth in Christ. Where the "hole" of world view of success, He infused Kingdom view of life. You get the point! When as a young man I prayed "God, I want you and your will for my lfe", I wasn't aware of what it would bring me to. Failure in college. Failure in relationships (remember, I didn't get married until 32). So much hurt. So much sorrow. So little hope in front of my natural eyes. God had a plan. God had a plan and will for me. Praise be to my Father! I am who I am today because of His grace and mercy. I have what I have today because of His kindness and love. And He isn't done yet. I still have areas that need fixing. Until I am out of this body and in His presence in Heaven, I will be imperfect. But God is faithful!
Do not be anxious, but pray with a thankful heart. Do not be undone, but be full of the peace that passes all understanding. Do not dwell on the hurts and negative thoughts, but think on Him, think of the blessings. Think on what is good.
Heb 10:23
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Hold on Dan. Your Heavenly Father is faithful!
In Christ,
Tim
Beauty is in everything but not everyone can see it.