Prayer Requests

Please keep my dear friend Vickie in your thoughts & prayers. Her aunt has passed away and her family, although grateful she isn't suffering, are mourning. Her husband Dave and daughter Missy are devastated of course. This was Vickie's mom Kathy's sister. Please keep them all in your prayers. Also I know this gal named Deb. She went to my church for a while and was involved in our homeschool group. Her aunt Robin has just had her daughter and two grandsons murdered by her son in law over in Wellington. Please keep Deb and her family in your prayers as well. Thanks

I now leave you with Pastor Hersch and how fitting his devotional today is!

Shelly

Therefore comfort each other and edify one another. 1st Thessalonians 5:11


Chuck Swindoll writes: 'The ski slopes were in perfect condition. I struck out on my first attempt at skiing with a positive attitude, thinking, "I'm going to be the first person who learns to ski without falling down."

You've heard of the Elephant Man? On skis, I'm the rhinoceros man. It's doubtful that anyone ever came down a ski slope more ways, or landed in more positions, or did more creative things in the air before landing.

Working with me that humiliating day was the world's most encouraging ski instructor (yes, I had an instructor!). Never once did she lose her cool, or laugh at me, or say "You are absolutely impossible. I quit!" That dear, gracious lady helped me up more times than I can number. She repeated the same basics time and again - like she had never said them before. Even though I was colder than an explorer in the Antarctic, irritable, impatient, and under the snow more than I was on it, she kept offering words of reassurance.

That day, God gave me a never-to-be-forgotten illustration of the value of encouragement. Had it not been for her spirit and her words, believe me, I would have hung 'em up and been back in the condo, warming my feet by the fire in less than an hour.

What is true for a novice on the snow once a year is all the more true for people we meet every day. Harassed by demands and deadlines; bruised by worry, adversity and failure; broken by disillusionment and defeated by sin, they live somewhere between dull discouragement and sheer panic.

All of us need encouragement, and the beautiful part about encouragement is this: anybody can do it!'

Pastor Hersch